London prepares for the Olympics

The photograph on the sheet was taken in early 2009 and presents a snapshot of the major development under way in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics. In the foreground one can see Stratford east railway station where key transport developments are taking place. In the background are a number of Olympic construction projects, including the Westfield Shopping Mall. In the past, the land shown in the photograph used to be mainly low industrial units, transport depots and railway sidings. It was relatively low-value land, which is one of the reasons that this site was chosen for the Olympics. The owners of the various industrial units have received support and compensation to enable them to relocate elsewhere. 1. What is the evidence that major redevelopments are taking place? It is evident that there is construction going on in the area, this can be seen particularly from the machinery but also because: -the Westfield Shopping Mall can be seen in the background, still under construction. – There are lots of buildings which can be seen in the background. -there is a large sign which says ‘Everyone's London 2012' which suggests that the developments taking place are on a large scale to attract large amounts of people. 2. The development at the railway station is part of an overall plan to provide a top quality public transport infrastructure for the Olympic Games. What are the benefits of this approach to transport management? -Well, the Olympic Games by nature are going to attract large amounts of people to come, and this is financially rewarding. However, public transport infrastructure must be carefully taken into consideration, because no matter how amazing the Olympic Games are, if people cannot reach there, then it may end up being a big problem (for example financially, if many people do not even bother to purchase tickets to attend the Olympic Games, as the destination is not accessible. -well thought out infrastructure is convenient for people when travelling. -Also, regarding long term benefits, it means that more people in the local area can travel after the Olympic Games to work in other areas (perhaps secure jobs with higher incomes). -the temporary workers on the Olympic Site can travel there conveniently. – The main benefit is that it will help to ensure the public gets to the venues in time and in some degree of comfort. 3. Notice that there is a slogan in the photograph, albeit partially obscured that reads ‘Everyone's London 2012'. A) What do you think is meant by this slogan?It means that all these developments which are taking place for the Olympic Games, when finished are for everyone to enjoy and experience, for example not just the athletes and tourist, but local people as well. Basically, the ambition of ‘everyone's 2012' is to inspire people of all ability, belief, postcode, and colour to participate fully in the Games – and it extends far beyond London and late summer 2012. B) How will the local community benefit from the building work taking place in preparation for the Olympics? -the area is hoped to be regenerated socially, economically and environmentally. -the sporting facilities can be used by the community; this can promote a healthy lifestyle in an area with high levels of obesity. -the community can enjoy more entertainment/recreation facilities such as the Westfield Shopping Mall. -improvements in transport infrastructure have the most long term benefits as local people can benefit from its convenience, also it means that local people could travel to other areas for job opportunities. -lots of temporary jobs will be needed, especially in the construction industry, so local people's skills can be used, and local people can be trained as well (e.g. apprenticeships). – Boosting social and economic prospects in Stratford and the Lower Lee Valley, an area of high unemployment and deprivation. – Bringing about the transformation of largely derelict, brown-field sites through comprehensive and co-ordinated development. -Improvements to transport infrastructure which would be of benefit to the wider Thames Gateway area. C) One critical element of London's winning Olympic bid was the so-called ‘legacy' of the games- the longer term benefits arising for the local community. Can you see from the photograph what some of these might be? Well, there are obviously a lot of developments going on, and it is likely that the sports facilities could be used in the future by local communities, as well as recreational uses such as the Westfield Shopping Mall, and generally the area will attract tourists, and therefore increase the economy of the area (e.g. prices going up such as hotels charging more money etc which will benefit the tourist industry). Other benefits include: * Sports facilities with a national and international profile. * The Olympic stadium itself, which could be used for an Athletic or Premiership football stadium. * 4,000-4,500 new residential units built to house teams in the Olympic village- could be used to provide affordable and key worker housing. * A 1,000,000 sq ft media centre would be created for the games, which would have the latest technology and could be used as a centre for media based organizations and creative industries in the future and would also encourage associated and complementary industries and lever in much needed private investment. * An increase in tourism linking into and complementing existing and planned regeneration in east London (people still go to Barcelona and Munich to visit the Olympic sites) * Wholesale environmental and landscaping improvements and new urban design concepts * Staging a major international event such as the Olympics would be a major cultural boost to east London, which has long suffered from the image of dereliction and unattractiveness. It would be an excellent chance to publicise the area's wide cultural diversity and create tourist attractions such as an Olympic Park. 4. If you were to visit the areas shown here one year after the photograph was taken, how do you think it would have changed? I think there would still be a high level of construction going on, and the area would look more developed e.g. the Westfield Shopping Mall might have more added to its exterior (such as the windows etc). There might also be more people there (e.g. working/just observing etc).

Indian English Literature Essay

History of English language and literature in India starts with the advent of East India Company in India. It all started in the summers of 1608 when Emperor Jahangir, in the courts of Moguls, welcomed Captain William Hawkins, Commander of British Naval Expedition Hector. It was India’s first tryst with an Englishman and English. Jahangir later allowed Britain to open a permanent port and factory on the special request of King James IV that was conveyed by his ambassador Sir Thomas Roe. English were here to stay. As East India Company spread its wing in southern peninsula, English language started to get newer pockets of influence. But it was still time for the first English book to capitalize. Late 17th century saw the coming of printing press in India but the publication were largely confined to either printing Bible or government decrees. Then came newspapers. It was in 1779 that the first English Newspaper named Hickey’s Bengal Gazette was published in India. The breakthrough in Indian English literature came in 1793 A.D. when a person by the name of Sake Dean Mahomet published a book in London titled Travels of Dean Mahomet. This was essentially Mahomet’s travel narrative that can be put somewhere between a Non-Fiction and a Travelogue. In its early stages, the Indian writings in English were heavily influenced by the Western art form of the novel. It was typical for the early Indian English language writers to use English unadulterated by Indian words to convey experiences that were primarily Indian. The core reason behind this step was the fact that most of the readers were either British or British educated Indians. In the coming century, the writings were largely confined to writing history chronicles and government gazettes. In the early 20th century, when the British conquest of India was achieved, a new breed of writers started to emerge on the block. These writers were essentially British who were born or brought up or both in India. Their writing consisted of Indian themes and sentiments but the way of storytelling was primarily western. They had no reservation in using native words, though, to signify the context. This group consisted likes of Rudyard Kipling, Jim Corbett and George Orwell among others. Books such as Kim, The Jungle Book, 1984, Animal Farm and The man-eaters of Kumaon etc were liked and read all over the English-speaking world. In fact, some of the writings of that era are still considered to be the masterpieces of English Literature. In those periods, natives were represented by the likes of Rabindra Nath Tagore and Sarojini Naidu. In fact, Geetanjali helped Tagore win Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 1913. There was a lull for more than 3 decades when India was passing through the era of aspiration and reconstruction. Some sporadic works such as ‘A Passage to India’ by E M Foster, ‘The Wonder that was India’ by E L. Basham and ‘ Autobiography of an unknown Indian’ by Nirad C Chaudhuri though set the stage on fire but were unsuccessful in catalyzing and explosion. It was in late seventies that a new breed of Convent, boarding school educated and elite class of novelists and writers started to come on block. The likes of Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Amitabh Ghosh and Dominique Lepierre set the literature world on fire. Rushdie’ s ‘ Midnight Children’ won Booker in 1981 and send the message loud and clear that Indians are here to stay. Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai repeated the feat when they won Man Booker in the year 1997 and 2006 respectively. In the mean time, a new crop of authors such as Pankaj Misra, Chetan Bhagat, Jhumpa Lahiri, William Dalrymple, Hari Kunzuru have arrived on the international scene and their writings are being appreciated round the globe. India became independent from Britain in 1947, and the English language was supposed to be phased out by 1965. However, today English and Hindi are the official languages. Indian English is characterized by treating mass nouns as count nouns, frequent use of the â€Å"isn’t it?† tag, use of more compounds, and a different use of prepositions. With its distinct flavor, Indian English writings are there to stay. With he surge of English speaking population, the future looks anything but bleak.

Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies

Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies Ali Al-Nodel College of Economy and Administration, Qassim University, P. O. Box 4667, Burydah 51412 Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Email: [email  protected] edu. sa Khaled Hussainey Ain Shams University, Egypt Accounting & Finance Division Stirling Management School Stirling University Stirling FK9 4LA United Kingdom Email: Khaled. [email  protected] ac. uk 1 Abstract Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the corporate governance literature in emerging economies by examining the effect of some corporate governance mechanisms on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies.Methodology: A multiple regression model is used to examine the association between financing decisions and corporate governance mechanisms for a sample of 37 listed Saudi companies. In particular, we examine the effect of board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio. Corporate governance reporting is measured by the content analysis approach. Findings: After controlling for companies’ profitability and their growth opportunities, we found that both board size and ownership concentration are positively associated with debt-to-equity ratio.Research limitations: We limit our analysis to a small sample of firms that use the internet to communicate corporate governance information between October 2005 and January 2006. Practical implications: The findings suggest that managers are likely to choose higher financial leverage when they have stronger corporate governance (large number of directors on the board and higher ownership concentration). However, we did not find any statistical association between corporate governance disclosure and debt-to-equity ratio.This suggests that firm’s asymmetric information is not an important driver of the financing decision of Saudi Arabian companies. This might be due to the nature of the Saudi business environment. Orig inality: We strongly believe that this paper provides a novel contribution to the existing literature as we are the first to examine this issue in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: Corporate governance, financing decisions, emerging economies, Saudi Arabia. Paper type: Research paper. 2 1. IntroductionThis paper aims to contribute to the corporate governance literature by examining the effect of corporate governance characteristics on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies. In particular, it examines the effect of board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio. The investigation of these research issues in Saudi business environment could extend prior research and give different explanations to those carried out in more developed countries Research related to determinant of corporate capital structure is a well established part of the accounting and finance research.Modigliani and Miller (1958) is the first to study this area of research. They also provided another study in the same area of research after modifying some assumptions such as relaxing the prefect market assumptions and considering corporate tax into their models (Miller and Modigliani, 1963). In their later study, they suggested that firm value will be enhanced if the level of debt increases because interest rate is a tax deductible and consequently companies would enjoy debt tax shield when funding their activities by long-term debt. Further accounting and finance research studies were more expressive.Those researches were concentrated on examining some determinants of corporate capital structure. For example, the association between board size and capital structure decisions have been suggested by a number of empirical studies (see for example Mehran 1992, Berger et al. 1997, Wiwattanakantang 1999, Wen et al. 2002, Du and Dia 2005, Abor and Biekpe 2005 and Al-Najjar and Hussainey 2010a and 2010b). Another determinant of capital structure decision which received significant attention is the ownership concentration (see for example Wiwattanakantang 1999, and Al- 3 Najjar and Hussainey 2010a and 2010b).More recently, number of studies have, also, investigated the association between asymmetric information and corporate decisions (see for example Li and Zhao, 2006 and Bharath et al. 2009). The results of these research studies suggest that firm value will be enhanced if the level of debt increases, board size and ownership concentration are associated with capital structure decisions and firms with higher levels of information asymmetric are more likely to use debt in financing their activities than equity. Unfortunately, the results of these research studies cannot be generalized for number of reasons.First, these results provided mixed evidence. For example, Mehran (1992), Berger et al. (1997), and Abor and Biekpe (2005) found a significant negative association between the size of the board of directors and debt-to-eq uity ratios, while Jensen (1986) found a positive association between higher debt ratios and larger board size. Further, other researchers found that there is no significant association between board size and debt-to-equity ratios (i. e. Wiwattanakantang, 1999; Wen et al. , 2002; and Al-Najjar and Hussainey, 2010). A second reason for the difficulty behind generalizing the results of these esearch studies are that the majority of them were carried out in most developed countries such as U. S and European continental. More precisely, in developing countries the conclusions of this line of research are likely to be challenged due to the business environmental differences between those of developed and those of developing countries. In another words, in a different business environment such those of the Middle Eastern countries, there are significant environmental factors that may affect corporate capital structure decisions.Hove (1986 and 1990) asserted the importance of political, ec onomical, and social systems on corporate decisions. 4 Third reason for the difficulty of generalising the evidence of prior research examining determinants of corporate capital structure is that there are very limited numbers of studies that have examined determinants of capital structure in developing countries and even fewer such studies may be found in the Middle East countries, leaving significant doubt about the applicability of these evidence in the business environment of Middle east countriesAccordingly, a natural area of extending the lines of the accounting and finance research related to determinant of corporate capital structure decisions is to explore other drivers of corporate capital structure decisions and to consider suggested drivers within a different business environment. In the present paper, we aim to examine the degree to which corporate governance affect the financing decisions of Saudi Arabian listed companies. We focus only on three corporate governance me chanisms.These are board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting. The main reasons for concentrating on these issues are the possibility of making comparison with other studies because these are the most studied issues in the literature, the availability of data regarding these issues1, and the importance of advising regulators whom are more concern about these issues in the process of regulating corporate governance in Saudi Arabia.To help us in focusing on a group of firms that report corporate governance information on their websites, we utilised a sample of 37 companies listed in Saudi Stock Market in January 2006. This was based on a recent paper by Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008) who collected their sample from Saudi listed companies’ websites 1 Cost of capital is an important factor in corporate capital structure decisions; however data for capital structure was not available. 5 etween October 2005 and January 2006 representing a total number of 77 companies listed in the Saudi Stock Exchange at that time. We found that both board size and ownership concentration are positively associated with the debt-to-equity ratio. However, we did not find a significant association between corporate governance reporting and the debt-to-equity ratio. The findings seem to suggest that managers are likely to choose higher financial leverage when they have stronger corporate governance (large number of directors on the board and higher ownership concentration).However, firm’s asymmetric information seems to be not a driver of the financing decision of Saudi Arabian companies. A possible explanation is that decisions relate to capital structure are affected by the Islamic view of financing which prohibits interests and in turn to the public view who disrespects such practice. This is enhanced by the weakness of the business reporting practice in Saudi Arabia which could provide pave for a different mean of getting information by parti es related to loan agreements.The results of this paper may be of use to the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (SACMA, thereafter) who issued a guidance in 2006 that recommends all listed companies to disclose corporate governance information to the public. This would help SACMA to explore the attitude of companies to voluntarily report corporate governance rather than being enforced to do so. The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 reviews prior research on the determinants of corporate capital structure. In Section 3, a description of the Saudi business environment is provided.Sections 4 and 5 discuss the development of the research hypotheses and the research model. Section 6 is the data description. The 6 main regression results are presented in Section 7. Section 8 concludes and suggests areas for future research. 2. Literature Review Although the relationship between corporate governance and capital structure has been the subject for an extensive research in developed co untries2, a limited research has been carried out to investigate the issue in business environment of developing countries.The association between board size and capital structure decisions have been well established in prior accounting and finance research. In particular, Mehran (1992), Berger et al. (1997), Wiwattanakantang (1999), Wen et al. (2002), Du and Dia (2005), Abor and Biekpe (2005) and Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010a and 2010b) examined the association between board size and corporate capital structure decision, but the results are mixed. Mehran (1992), Berger et al. (1997), and Abor and Biekpe (2005) reported a significant negative association between the size of the board of directors and debt-toequity ratios.However, Jensen (1986) revealed a positive association between higher debt ratios and larger board size. Other researchers found that there is no significant association between board size and debt-to-equity ratios (Wiwattanakantang, 1999, Wen et al. , 2002, Al-Naj jar and Hussainey, 2010). 2 Examples include the UK (see, for example, Demirag 1998; Ezzamel and Willmott 1993; Writer 2001; Vinten 2001), The Netherlands (Groot, 1998), and Canada (Elloumi and Gueyie, 2001). Other researchers compared the corporate governance practice between developing countries.For instance, Vinten (2000) compared the corporate governance practice between the UK and the US. Another comparative study is Charkham (1994) which found significant differences in the corporate governance practices in five countries: Japan, Britain, France, the United States and Germany. 7 Ownership concentration is considered as one of the key determinants of capital structure decision. Wiwattanakantang (1999) reported that managerial shareholdings have consistent positive influence on family-owned firm leverage.In addition, Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010a) found that insider ownership is positively and significantly associated with the debt-to-equity ratio. However, Al-Najjar and Hussai ney (2010b) did not find the expected significant results. A relatively recent and growing number of studies have investigated the association between asymmetric information and corporate decisions (see Li and Zhao, 2006 for more details). For example Bharath et al. (2009) used a novel information asymmetry index and examined the extent to which information asymmetry is a determinant of capital structure decisions.They found that information asymmetry affects capital structure decisions of US companies. In particular, they found a significant positive association between information asymmetry and debt-to-equity ratio. In other words, their results suggest that firms with higher levels of information asymmetric are more likely to use debt in financing their activities than equity. On the other hand, other research found that voluntary disclosure is negatively related to asymmetric information. For example, Hussainey et al. 2003) found higher levels of voluntary disclosure reduce info rmation asymmetry between the firm and investors and hence increase investors' ability to better anticipate future earnings. Research investigating corporate governance in developing countries is much beyond in considering the impact of issues of corporate governance on corporation capital structure. A review of research investigating issues of corporate governance revealed that most such research approach the issue whether to describe the state of 8 orporate governance from an official perspective or from the perspective of what should the practical applications of its principles be. For example, Al-Motairy (2003) explored the state of corporate governance practices in Saudi Arabia. He concluded that there is a vital need for (1) a review of these regulations to reflect the current practices of corporate governance, (2) the issuance of guidance for best practices for management and financial affair in corporations and (3) the establishment of an organisation to accelerate the adopt ion of best practices of corporate governance.Similarly, Fouzy (2003) evaluated the practices of corporate governance’s principles in Egypt. He recognised the development in Egyptian official regulations toward the application of best practices of corporate governance. He then argued that these developments are not met enough by Egyptian companies in their practical applications. Another example is the study which was carried out by Oyelere and Mohammed (2005) investigating the practices of corporate governance in Oman and how it is being communicated to stakeholders.They recommend enhanced regulation and communication for the Omani stock market to keep pace with the international developments. Finally, a research paper by the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE, 2003) examined the corporate governance practice in four Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Lebanon). It found that corporate governance practice is approached differently by each cou ntry depending on the sophistication of the financial market in each country. The research paper further provided several 9 ecommendations to improve the application of the principles of corporate governance in the region as a whole. The impact of the corporation attitude toward their corporate governance on their financing decisions needs further investigation giving the unique of the Saudi business environment and the mixed results of the accounting and finance research relating to the determinants of corporate capital structure. This is evident by the unique aspects of the business environment of Saudi Arabia which will be discussed in the following paragraph. 3.Saudi business environment This section provides a general description of the environment of the Saudi business practices. The discussion will be directed to the most important environmental factors, as suggested by the literature. The main aspects of the Saudi business practices that will be discussed are the social, eco nomical, and political systems. Also, some highlights will be given to the 1965 Company Law that regulates the practice of Saudi businesses and the guidance of corporate governance issued by SACMA in 2006 which regulates corporate governance reporting.As a conservative society, a significant number of Saudis are adherent to Islamic values such as avoiding loan interests. This does not mean there is no such type of transactions but to mean that the majority of Saudis do not openly accept such transactions. Saudi society is also characterized by the impact of the personality and power of particular individuals, the role of family and friend relationships over regulations, privilege given to personal relationships over tasks, and the existence of a high level of secrecy (Al-Rumaihi 1997; Al-Nodel 2004). 0 The economy of Saudi Arabia is an oil-based economy and government exercises strong controls over major economic activities. Since the discovery of oil in 1938, oil revenue represents the biggest contribution to the economy. In 1990s, it accounted for around 35% of nominal GDP, about 75% of government revenues, and 85% of export receipts (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003). Table 1 presents the country’s budgetary revenues, expenditures and net surplus or (deficit) for the last three years.Insert Table 1 here Similar to most developing countries, Saudi businesses are characterized by the domination of family businesses, the deep involvement of the government in the private sector, and the existence of a number of foreign-owned and controlled companies based on joint venture agreements with domestic companies. Al-Nodel (2004) reported that joint-stock companies represent only 1. 14% of the total number, and account for less than 40% of the total capital of the registered businesses.Since the type of businesses is mostly small to medium size companies, there was an apparent need for more foreign investors and involvement of the government in the private sec tor to carry some important activities which cannot be carried out or provided by local companies. This has left the country with significant number of foreign-owned and controlled companies based on joint venture agreements with domestic companies and significant involvement of government in some major business activities (Presley, 1984; Aba-Alkhail, 2001).The political system of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, headed by the King. Within the political system, there are three legislative bodies, which have the authority to initiate and/or approve policies, regulation or rules: the Council of 11 Ministers, the Consultative Council, and various individual Ministries (Al-Amari, 1989; Al-Rumaihi, 1997). The legal system of Saudi Arabia is derived from Islamic law (Shariah; Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah3), and coded laws for a number of specific fields, such as commerce, tax and labour.Al-Amari (1989) reported that Islamic law prevails in legal disputes. Two of the most impor tant aspects of the Islamic values relating to corporate financing are that Islamic law prohibits loan interests whether giving or taking by individuals or business institutions and obligation of Zaket4 which should be giving, calculated based on the capital of the business or individual, and given to specific groups as mentioned by Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah.Taxes duty is imposed on non-Saudi or Gulf States companies operate in Saudi Arabia. There are some differences between Zaket and Taxes whether on whom to impose, the manner of collection, or calculation. For example, Zaket is based on the wealth of the business with some specific deductions for specific items as indicated by Shariah; Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah, while Tax is based on the net income with some deduction according to the law of Taxes. The 1965 Company Law regulates the practice of businesses in Saudi Arabia.It sets conditions for several aspects of businesses such as legal fra meworks through which business companies can be established, the registration requirements, minimum capital to be maintained, number of partners, number of directors, accounts, the 3 Alqur’an Alkareem is the Holly book of Islam and Sunna Alsharifah is the interpretations, speeches and actions of prophet Mohamed Peace be up on him. Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah provide the main of Islamic instructions. 4 Zaket is a financial religious duty and represents the third pillar.Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah explain to Muslim the compliance with the Zaket duty. 12 annual audit of the accounts, and so on. Shinawi and Crum (1971) asserted that the origin of the 1965 Saudi Company Law goes back to the British Companies Act of 1948. The similarity between the 1965 Saudi Company Law and the UK acts issued in 1948, 1967 and 1976 was also reported by Kahlid (1983). The reporting requirements which are imposed by the 1965 Company Law represent the only rules th at should be observed.It requires the issuance of a balance sheet, a profit and loss account, and a report on the company’s operations and financial position every fiscal year. It further stipulates that all corporations and limited liability companies must issue annual financial statements audited by an independent auditor licensed to practice by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Similar to stock markets in developing countries, the Saudi stock market is new and small. In 1984, the Royal Decree No. 81230 was issued as an attempt to officially regulate the stock exchange (Abdeen and Dale, 1984; El-Sharkawy, 2006).Under this Royal Decree, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was given actual control over the stock exchange through national commercial banks. The significant change was in 2003 when the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (SACMA) was established to oversight the exchange of Saudi stocks (Ramady, 2005). This period observed significant increase o f the number of listed companies, regulations for the market in general and reporting in specific. Table 2 compares some key numbers of the Saudi stock market between 1996- 2005. Insert Table 2 here 13For example, in 2006 SACMA issued a draft for reporting requirements of corporate governance for listed companies. The draft provides recommendations of the criteria for the best corporate governance practice that should listed companies counsel. It has covered to some extent the main five principles issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): the rights of shareholders, the equitable treatment of shareholders, the role of stakeholders in corporate governance, disclosure and transparency, the responsibility of the board of directors.According to the recommendations of SACMA, listed companies are required to report to SACMA about their compliance with the criteria of corporate governance as issued by SACMA or reasons for uncompliance if any. The disclosu re contains, for example, the board of directors’ functions, responsibilities, formation, committees of board of directors; audit committee; Nomination and Remuneration Committee; Meetings of the Board and Remuneration and Indemnification of Board Members5.Finally, SACMA asserted that the criteria for the best corporate governance practice mostly constitutes the guiding principles for all listed companies unless any other regulations, laws or rules require such requirement. 4. Research hypotheses To examine the effect of corporate governance characteristics on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies we formulated three research hypotheses; 5Detailed information about these regulations is discussed in the following articles (SACMA, 2006): Article 9: Disclosure in the Board of Directors’ Report; Article 10: Main Functions of the Board of Directors; Article 11: Responsibilities of the Board; Article 12: Formation of the Board; Article 13: Committees of the B oard; Article 14: Audit Committee; Article 15: Nomination and Remuneration Committee; Article 16: Meetings of the Board; Article 17: Remuneration and Indemnification of Board Members. 14 he effect of board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio as following. Board size hypothesis Given that prior research investigating the association between board size and debt-to-equity ratios gave mixed result (see section 2), we also revisited this research area and examined the association between board size and capital structure for Saudi Arabian companies. We set the following first research hypothesis for the impact of board size on capital structure:H1: Ceteris paribus, there is a relationship between board size and debt-to-equity ratio. Ownership concentration hypothesis Given the results of the prior research are – to some extent – mixed, we also revisited this research area and examined the association between ownership concentration and capital structure for Saudi Arabian companies. We set the following second research hypothesis for the impact of ownership concentration on capital structure: H2: Ceteris paribus, there is a relationship between ownership concentration and debt-to-equity ratio. Corporate governance reportingTo examine the role of the information environment on capital structure decision in Saudi Arabian companies, we used a corporate governance voluntary disclosure index as a measure of a firm’s information environment and set the 15 following third research hypothesis for the impact of corporate governance reporting on capital structure: H3: Ceteris paribus, there is a relationship between corporate governance reporting and debt-to-equity ratio. 5. Model Development In order to test the above hypotheses, we regress debt-to-equity ratio on some corporate governance characteristics and some control variables.The study will investigate the following model: Levit = ? + ? ? X it + ? it Where: Levit is defined as long term debt to equity ratio; ? is the intercept. ? ? is the slope coefficient estimates of regressors. X it is the corporate governance variables (and control variables) for firm i at time t. Dependent variable: The dependent variable ( Levit ) is defined as the long term debt to equity ratio. Independent variables: We have three independent variables and two control variables. We identified three types of corporate governance variables: 1) Board size (BOARD): This represents the number of executive and non executive directors on the board. (2) Ownership concentration (OWNERSHIP): This represents the total percentage of the company’s shares that owned by owners. 16 (3) Corporate governance reporting (DISCLOSURE): This is calculated as the number of sentences that include at least one corporate governance related information. Control variables: (1) Profitability (PROF): we used return on total assets as a measure for firms’ profitab ility. (2) Growth opportunity (MB): we used share price to book value ratio as a measure for firm’s growth opportunity. . Data Our data collection is based on a recent paper by Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008). This helped us to focus on a group of firms that report corporate governance information on their websites. We focused on firms that disclose information through internet because prior research argued that internet reporting is one of the most important sources of voluntary disclosure and this source is more likely to complement published annual reports (Aly et al, 2010). Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008) collected their sample from Saudi listed companies’ websites between October 2005 and January 2006.At that time, the total number of companies listed in the Saudi Stock Market was 77 representing eight sectors: agriculture, services, cement, industrial, banks, electrical, telecommunication and insurance. They used TADAWUL website (www. tdwl. net) and Google website (w ww. google. com) to access every company's website. They deleted some companies from their analysis for a number of reasons. These include 11 firms without websites; one firm with a website under construction and one firm with a restricted website. This reduced their sample to 64 companies. We also further excluded 27 firms because of missing corporate 7 governance and accounting information. This led to a sample of 37 listed firms for the current study. Data on debt-to-equity ratio, Board size, ownership concentration, profitability and price-to-book value ratio were collected from TADAWUL website. Following Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008), we used the content analysis approach to measure the number of sentences that contain corporate governance information. Accordingly we used the corporate governance disclosure index developed by Hussainey and AlNodel (2008) to analyse the content of every company's website. 7.Empirical Results This section discusses the descriptive analysis, the c orrelation analysis and the empirical results. Descriptive analysis Table 3 shows the descriptive analysis (mean, minimum, maximum and the standard deviation). It shows that on average the number of directors on board in Saudi Arabia companies is around 8, with a minimum of 4 members and a maximum of 11 members. Mean ownership concentration is 35. 6 and the mean corporate governance disclosure is 5 sentences with a minimum of zero corporate governance sentence and a maximum of 21 corporate governance sentences.A broad range of variation in financial variables is also evident in our sample. The debt-to-equity ratio ranges from 0 to 97 with a mean of 24. 52 and a standard deviation of 32. 576. The return on total assets ratio ranges from -37. 3 to 71. 74 with a mean of 8. 8535 and a standard deviation of 13. 81767. The share price to book value ratio ranges from 0 to 21 with a mean of 5. 03 and a standard deviation of 5. 336. On 18 average, our sample covers large firms as the mean fi rm size is 23240077. 81.Finally, our sample covers nine sectors as follows: Banks (9 firms), Chemical (8 firms); Cement (6 firms); Retailers (2); Energy (I firm); Agriculture (7 firms); Telecommunication (2 firms); Advertising (1 firm) and Insurance (1 firm). Insert table 3 here Table 4 shows the correlation analysis. The correlation between each of the independent variables is not too high. The highest correlation found between corporate governance disclosure and share price to book value ratio (MB) is 43. 5, which is acceptable. This confirms that no multicollinearity problem exists between the independent variables. Insert table 4 hereTable 5 shows our empirical results. It shows that the coefficient estimate on board size is positive significant with a p-value of 0. 059 (see model 4). This is consistent with Jensen (1986) who also found a positive association between higher debt ratios and larger board size. Our finding indicates that larger board size puts Saudi Arabian firms i n a good position to finance their activities by using debt. This is consistent with the fact that higher quality of corporate governance improves companies’ financial performance (Bhagat and Bolton, 2008) and hence leads increase the ability of the company to obtain debt.Liang and Zheng (2005) provided an explanation for this positive sign. They argued that boards with a large board size are more likely to have a difficulty in getting an agreement because of different and conflict opinions and views. Accordingly, firms with large number of directors on board might not choose equity financing which requires high transaction cost to resolve communication and coordination dilemma. In addition, they argued that 19 directors would choose debt for financing their activities because this source of finance will not dilute the equity of current shareholders and change their current position.This leads us to accept hypothesis 1. Table 5 also shows that the coefficient estimate on owne rship concentration is positive significant with a p-value of 0. 005 (see model 4). This result is consistent with Wiwattanakantang (1999) Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010a). This indicates that when the total percentage of the company’s shares is concentrated internally, managers will prefer to use debt to finance their companies’ activities. This is because – as mentioned in Liang and Zheng (2005) – debt will not dilute the equity of current shareholders and change their current position.This leads us to accept hypothesis 2. Insert table 5 here Finally, corporate governance disclosure as a proxy for asymmetric information between managers and investors is expected to be negative and statistically significant. However, Table 5 shows that the coefficient estimate of DISCLOSURE variable is positive, indicating that firms with higher levels of corporate governance disclosure (less information asymmetry) has higher debt-toequity ratio. This finding is statistic ally insignificant and not consistent with prior research. This leads us to reject hypothesis 3. . Conclusion The aim of this paper was to examine the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure for Saudi Arabian listed companies. Our results show that the corporate capital structure decisions in Saudi Arabia is driven by some of the same corporate governance determinates suggested in prior research. Based on 20 a sample of 37 Saudi Arabian listed companies, our results show that the number of directors on boards and ownership concentration are the main drivers of Saudi companies for capital structure decisions.Our results, however, show that corporate governance reporting was not an important driver of Saudi companies for capital structure decisions. This might be due in part to the nature of the Saudi business environment where there is a weak reporting requirement of the practice of corporate governance in the country. This fact could have encourage parties to loan agreements approach different means to get the needed information rather than the traditional reporting mechanisms which is likely to be practical in a small community of businesses.This is also likely to be affected by the characteristics of Saudi society whereas the impact of the personality and power of particular individuals, the role of family and friend relationships prevail over regulations, and tasks, and the existence of a high level of secrecy. The main limitation of the study is that it did not cover the whole market so the sample may not be representative of the population of Saudi companies. This, however, is justified by the nature of the study, which relied on the availability of data needed. Further recheck was carried for companies which are not included.We found that these companies are in general small and less likely to affect the results. Nevertheless, a study with a large number of companies is needed for future research. A future research may also try to overcome the limitation of the availability of data and investigate other determinants of capital structure decisions by utilising other mean of research tools such interviews with parties involved in loan agreements.21 References Aba-Alkhail, K. (2001). Regulating the auditing profession in Saudi Arabia: the formulation of early auditing standards. PhD Thesis. University of Essex.Abdeen, A. and Dale, S. (1984), The Saudi Financial System in the Context of Western and Islamic Finance, John Wiley ; Sons. Abor, J. and Biekpe, N. (2005). â€Å"Does Corporate Governance Affect the Capital Structure Decisions of Ghanaian SMEs? , Working paper, University of Stellenbosch Business School Al-Amari, S. (1989). The development of accounting standards and practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. PhD Thesis. University of Glasgow. Al-Motairy, O. , (2003), â€Å"Implementing corporate governance in Saudi Arabia†, Arab Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 281-305. Al-N ajjar, B. nd Hussainey, K. (2010a). â€Å"What drives firms’ capital structure and dividend policy? †, Working paper, Middlesex University, UK. Al-Najjar, B. and Hussainey, K. (2010b). â€Å"Revisiting the capital structure puzzle: UK evidence†, Working paper, Middlesex University, UK. Al-Nodel, A. (2004), † The business risk audit approach: international dissemination and the impact of a business orientation on auditors’ perceptions of risks†. PhD Thesis. University of Manchester. Al-Rumaihi, J. (1997). Setting accounting standards in a non-western environment with special reference to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.PhD Thesis. University of Dundee. Aly, D. , Simon, J. and Hussainey, K. (2010). ‘Determinants of corporate internet reporting: evidence from Egypt’. Managerial Auditing Journal, 25 (2): 182-202. Berger, P. G. , Ofek, E. , Yermack, D. L. , (1997). â€Å"Managerial entrenchment and capital structure decision†. Journ al of Finance 52, 1411–1438. Bhagat, S. and Bolton, B. (2008). â€Å"Corporate governance and firm performance†, Journal of Corporate Finance, 14(3): 257-273. Bharath, S. , Pasquariello, P. and Wu, G. (2009). â€Å"Does asymmetric information drive capital structure decisions? , Review of Financial Studies, forthcoming. Capital Market Authority (CMA), 2006, http://www. cma. org. sa/cma%5Far/ (Accessed on 15th September 2006). Driffield, N. , Mahambare, V. and Pal, S. (2007).â€Å"How does ownership structure affect capital structure and firm value†. Economics of Transition, 15 (3), 535-537. 22 Du, J. and Dai, Y. (2005). â€Å"Ultimate corporate ownership structure and capital structures: Evidence from East Asian economies†, Corporate Governance, 13 (1): 6071. El-Sharkawy, H. (2006),†Historical years in Saudi stocksâ€Å", Al-Jazirah Newspaper, September, No. 12413. Fouzy, S. (2003), â€Å"Evaluation of corporate governance in the Arab Republic of Egypt†, The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, Working paper No. 82 pp. 1- 39. Kahlid, T. M. (1983). â€Å"Financial audit: comparative study about the responsibility of an external auditor in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom† Proceedings of the second accounting conference on accounting development. Riyadh, King Saud University. Hove, M. (1986). ‘Accounting practices in developing countries: colonialism’s legacy of inappropriate technologies’. International Journal of Accounting Education and Research Vol. 22 (1): pp. 81-100.Hove, M. (1990). ‘The Anglo-American influence on international accounting standards: the case of the disclosure standards of the international accounting standards committee’. Research in Third World Accounting Vol. 1: pp. 55-66. Hussainey, K. and Al-Nodel, A. (2008). ‘Corporate governance online reporting by Saudi companies’, Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies, 8, 39-64 . Hussainey, K. , Schleicher, T. and Walker, M. (2003). ‘Undertaking large-scale disclosure studies when AIMR-FAF ratings are not available: The case of prices leading earnings’. Accounting and Business Research, 33(4): 275-294.Jensen M. C. (1986), ‘Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers’, American Economic Review, 76: 323-329. La Rocca, M. (2007). â€Å"The influence of corporate governance on the relation between capital structure and value†, Corporate Governance, 7 (3), 312-325. Li, K. and Zhao, X. (2008). â€Å"Asymmetric information and dividend policy†, Financial Management, 37 (4), 673-694. Liang T. Zheng J. (2005), â€Å"Board characteristics and capital structure: An empirical study on China’s private listed companiesâ€Å", Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing, 1 (7): 31- 40. Mehran, H. 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(2005), â€Å"A survey of internet reporting of corporate governance practices by companies listed in Oman†, The 2nd Annual International Accounting Conference, Istanbul – Turkey, November. Presley, R. (19 84). A guide to the Saudi Arabian economy. London, Macmillan Press. Ramady, M. (2005), The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements and Challenges, Springer.Regional Corporate Governance Working Group of Middle East and North Africa, (2003), Recommendations in Corporate Governance, Center for International Private Enterprise, Website http://www. cipe-arabia. org/search. asp (Accessed on 20th September, 2006). Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), (2007), http://www. sama. gov. sa/ (Accessed in 20th September 2007). Shinawi, A. , and Crum, W. (1971). â€Å"The emergence of professional public accounting in Saudi Arabia. † International Journal of Accounting Education and Research Vol. 6(2): pp. 103-110. Wen, Y. , Rwegasira, K. and Bilderbeek, J. (2002). Corporate governance and capital structure decisions of the Chinese listed firms†, Corporate Governance, 10 (2), 75-83. Wiwattanakantang, Y. (1999). â€Å"An empirical study on the determinants of the capital struct ure of Thai firms†, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 7, 371–403 Wikipedia website (2006) http://www. Wikipedia. Com (Accessed on 10th July 2008). 24 Table (1): Saudi Arabia budgetary revenues, expenditures and net surplus or deficit 2005-2007 Annual government budgeting ( estimates ) Million Saudi Riyals ($1= 3. 75 SR) Total Non-oil Total (Deficit)/ Oil revenues revenues revenues expendituresSurplus Amount Amount % Amount % Amount Amount 2005 280000 220000 79% 60000 21% 280000 0 2006 390000 320000 82% 70000 18% 335000 55000 2007 400000 330000 83% 70000 17% 380000 20000 Source: SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency) annual report (2007). 25 Table (2): Key Figures of Saudi Stock Market between 1996-2005. YEAR 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 NO. OF TRANSACTIONS (THOUSAND)) 284 460 377 438 498 605 1,034 3,763 13,320 46,607 TRADED STOCK (MILLION) 138 314 295 528 555 692 1,736 5,566 10,298 12,281 Source: TADAWUL website accessed on 29th September 2006 26 MARKET VALUE ($MILLIAR ) 46 59 43 61 68 73 75 157 306 650 INDEX 1,531 1,958 1,413 2,029 2,258 2,430 2,518 4,438 8,206 16,713 Table (3) Descriptive Statistics ; Industry Classification a) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Lev 37 0 97 24. 52 32. 576 Board 37 4 11 7. 89 1. 822 Ownership 36 .0 82. 7 35. 550 27. 7875 PROF 37 -37. 30 41. 74 8. 8535 13. 81767 MB 37 .00 66. 87 9. 9181 10. 56721 Total assets 37 0 Disclosure 37 0 136950480 23240077. 81 21 b) Industry Classification Sectors Number of firms Banks 9 Chemical 8 Cement 6 Retailers 2 Energy 1 Agriculture 7 Telecommunication 2Advertising 1 Insurance 1 27 5. 03 3. 888E7 5. 336 Table (4) Correlation analysis Disclosure Board Ownership Lev MB PROF 1. 000 .077 .246 .301 .435** -. 139 .649 .149 .070 .007 .410 37 37 36 37 37 37 Pearson Correlation .077 1. 000 .234 .395* .083 .212 Sig. (2-tailed) .649 .170 .016 .626 .207 Disclosure Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Board N 37 37 36 37 37 37 .246 .234 1. 000 .504** . 097 .064 .149 .170 .002 .574 .711 36 36 36 36 36 36 Pearson Correlation .301 .395* .504** 1. 000 .109 -. 062 Sig. (2-tailed) .070 .016 .002 .520 .716 37 37 36 37 37 37 .435** .083 .097 .109 1. 000 -. 019 .007 626 .574 .520 37 37 36 37 37 37 Pearson Correlation -. 139 .212 .064 -. 062 -. 019 1. 000 Sig. (2-tailed) .410 .207 .711 .716 .910 37 37 36 37 37 Ownership Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Lev N MB Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N PROF N **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed). 28 .910 37 Table (5) Regression analysis 5. 1 Model summary R Square Adjusted R Square 1 .617 a .380 .277 28. 002 2 .616b .379 .299 27. 565 3 .602c .363 .303 27. 492 4 .576d .332 .291 27. 726 Model R Std. Error of the Estimate a.Predictors: (Constant), PROF, MB, Ownership , Board , Disclosure b. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, Ownership , Board , Disclosure c. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board , Disclosure d . Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board 29 5. 2 ANOVA analysis e ANOVA Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Regression 14436. 181 5 2887. 236 3. 682 .010a Residual 23524. 187 30 784. 140 Total 37960. 368 35 Regression 14405. 109 4 3601. 277 4. 739 .004b Residual 23555. 258 31 759. 847 Total 37960. 368 35 Regression 13774. 798 3 4591. 599 6. 075 .002c Residual 24185. 570 32 755. 799 Total 37960. 368 35 Regression 2592. 380 2 6296. 190 8. 190 .001d Residual 25367. 988 33 768. 727 Total 37960. 368 35 Model 1 2 3 4 a. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, MB, Ownership , Board , Disclosure b. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, Ownership , Board , Disclosure c. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board , Disclosure d. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board e. Dependent Variable: Lev 30 5. 3 Coefficient estimates Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Model a Standardized Coefficients t Sig. -1. 839 .076 .315 2. 079 .046 .181 .400 2. 619 .014 1. 064 1. 032 .174 1. 031 .311 MB -. 101 .507 -. 0 32 -. 199 .844 PROF -. 311 .352 . 132 -. 886 .383 -39. 272 20. 901 -1. 879 .070 Board 5. 669 2. 696 .312 2. 102 .044 Ownership .475 .178 .401 2. 672 .012 Disclosure .971 .906 .159 1. 072 .292 PROF -. 315 .346 -. 134 -. 911 .369 -38. 586 20. 831 -1. 852 .073 Board 5. 185 2. 637 .285 1. 967 .058 Ownership .466 .177 .393 2. 630 .013 Disclosure 1. 113 .890 .182 1. 251 .220 (Constant) -35. 046 20. 814 -1. 684 .102 Board 5. 196 2. 659 .286 1. 954 .059 Ownership 4 .519 .173 .438 2. 990 .005 21. 252 5. 721 2. 752 .474 Disclosure 3 -39. 090 Ownership 2 Std. Error Board 1 B (Constant) (Constant) (Constant) a. Dependent Variable: Lev 31 Beta

McCarthy Witchhunts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Biological Cloning and Nuclear Transplantation Essay

Biological Cloning and Nuclear Transplantation - Essay Example Burnett states about the scientific concept, â€Å"Scientists will take the nucleus of a somatic, or nonreproductive, cell from Alcalde and insert it into an egg cell from a cow, from which the nucleus has been removed. The resulting embryo will be grown in an incubator and then implanted in a cow to develop† (2008, p.1). In lay language, the concept involves the desire to produce animals with superior qualities that cannot be achieved through normal reproduction. The process involves nuclear transplantation, in which the genetic material from a given cell is inserted into the host. In this case, the host is an unfertilized egg whose genetic material has been removed through enucleation process. The biological process of nuclear transplantation is whereby scientists derive a cell from an adult animal they wish to clone. The genome of the animal is contained in the nucleus of this derived cell. Genome is the DNA that has instructions to create a new individual. The next stage i n this process is taking an unfertilized egg from the female of the same species, and removing its nucleus (Mann, 2003, p.1). The scientists then put the nucleus into the egg; thus, basically replacing the DNA of the egg with that of the cloning animal. The nucleus derived from the donor cell is fused with the egg with the help of a smell electric current passed through the cell. Adding a series of chemicals into the egg tricks it into believing that fertilization is taking place. At this stage, the outcome may be successful or unsuccessful.

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Intelligence uses at Abu Ghraib Military prison - Research Paper Example In 2004, however, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal erupted, putting the US’s human intelligence and counter-intelligence strategies at the center of international attention and generating massive criticism from human rights advocates. The perceived human rights violations that the Iraqi prisoners were subjected to were condemned and highlighted the need to review and make reforms in human intelligence and counter-intelligence in the military. This paper is an attempt to revisit exactly how human intelligence and counter-intelligence were deployed by the United States in Abu Ghraib. It begins by first discussing the rationale and purpose of HUMINT and counterintelligence, then it proceeds to discuss the means with which these strategies were deployed by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib, and finally, it looks into the reforms that were undertaken as a result of the worldwide controversy that was generated. The rationale and purpose of HUMINT and counterintelligence The primary justificati on for HUMINT and counterintelligence is reposed in the National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States of America, to wit: The United States faces substantial challenges to its security, freedom, and prosperity. Transnational terrorism, continued proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), asymmetric warfare, extremist movements, and failed states present severe challenges to a just and stable international order. Our ability to meet these challenges is threatened by the intelligence activities of traditional and non-traditional adversaries. Our adversaries – foreign intelligence services, terrorists, foreign criminal enterprises and cyber intruders – use overt, covert, and clandestine activities to exploit and undermine US national security interests. (2007: iv) In essence, therefore, the primary rationale for the adaption of HUMINT and counterintelligence is to adequately respond and neutralize the threats posed by the opponent. More specific to t he Iraqi context , military intelligence and counterintelligence experts were purposely deployed in Abu Ghraib in a calculated effort to enforce an active quest in eliminating the fatal problem of insurgency. The same was also done in the hopes of gathering intelligence advantageous in maintaining a more viable democratic Iraq. The person in charge of Abu Ghraib in 2004, Brigadier General Jane Krapinski, â€Å"was an experienced operations and intelligence officer who had served with the Special Forces and in the 1991 Gulf War† (Hersh, 2004). This strategy faced a number of challenges, not least of which was the nature of Iraqis their training and culture that makes them choose death over surrender. Another important purpose of HUMINT and counterintelligence specific to the Global War on Terror is that in Iraq, â€Å"it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish insurgents from citizens within the population† (Lane: 2009, 3). Hence, to avoid fatalities, it became necessary to extract inside information from insurgents that were captured. How HUMINT and counterintelligence were deployed: Abu Ghraib and the issue of human rights Abu Ghraib, which was already a prison in Iraq even before the war broke out, served as a significant place in gathering intelligence for the coalition forces. The originally Iraqi prison -- uninhabited and abandoned after its fall to the coalition for

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ANALYSIS - Case Study Example 126). In this case study, they include the management of the Plasterboard Company as well as that of the company that has been sub contracted for transport. Apathetic stakeholders are the ones responsible for monitoring the activities that are being undertaken and in this case the NGO that is advocating for Plasterboard Company to change its operations or be denied the right to work in this area is in this category (Kogut, 2012, p. 56). The defenders in this situation are the people who work in the mines and who may lose their jobs in the event that the company cannot continue carrying out its activities in this area (Aartsengel and Kurtoglu, 2013, p. 41). An ethical dilemma is a complicated state of affairs that most often than not involves an actual mental conflict between moral imperatives whereby obeying one will mean another is disobeyed (Harman, 2006, p. 152). In relation to this case study, an ethical dilemma will arise if the quarry operations are closed. This is because the people who work at the quarry will no longer have a source of employment and this will make their lives considerably difficult. On the other hand, if the quarry remains open, there is the risk of accidents associated with the trucks that pass through the town and also the rocks after they have blown. The disturbance that is caused by the trucks and the vibrations which amount to pollution will also continue. Another ethical dilemma can be identified in the plant operations since if the plant is closed; there is the danger of two hundred people losing a source of livelihood which will be bad for the town’s economy. Keeping it open means that the dangers associated with it will continue to haunt the population of the town. There may be a danger of the chemicals spilling and contaminating the environment as well as the groundwater in the soil that is used in the town. The noise and vibrations from the plant is also a nuisance even

Reservation to Resurgence-Contemporary Context Essay

Reservation to Resurgence-Contemporary Context - Essay Example Upon establishment of the USA, the ruling political class agreed to civilize the Native Americans, voluntarily or through force, to enhance their assimilation as citizens of the USA (Treuer 44). At the beginning of the 20th century, there were an estimated 250,000 Native Americans; this represented 0.3% of the total USA population. They lived in reservations where they experienced minimal level of self government. During the 19th century, they were deprived a huge portion of their land through succession of treaties, which the white authorities mostly ignored, and also through the military actions of the USA as it increased control in the American west. In 1831 John Marshall, who was the Chief Justice, tried to define the status of the Native Americans. He illustrated the Indian Tribes as Domestic Dependant Nations. Marshall recognized the uniqueness of the American Indians because they are both independent nations and part of the USA (Edward 23). As from 1887 to 1933, the federal policy enhances the assimilation of the Native Indians into the mainstream society of the USA. This policy was explained in the Dawes Act of 1887. The act decreed that the Indian Reservation land should be divided into plots, and given to each Native American. This policy was enhance by the Supreme Court decision in 1903 (Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock) that Congress can dispose Indian Land without obtaining consent form the Indians involved (Francis 12). The Citizenships Act in 1924 gave US citizenships to Native Americans; this was seen as a success of the policy on assimilation. The current legal status in the USA recognizes 562 tribal governments. The federally recognized tribal governments have the right of establishing their governments, enforce laws within their jurisdictions, create tax policies, formulate membership criteria, license activities like business, exclude and include persons in their territories

The Gangster We Are Looking For Essay Example for Free

The Gangster We Are Looking For Essay â€Å"The Gangster We Are Looking For† is constructed as series of five interrelated stories – series of sharply drawn and brief vignettes. Viewpoints, time and place are swiftly changing when the narrator tells about the incidents in the USA and remembers Vietnam. The past and the presents are interwoven and the narrator seems to be moved by personal associations. It is necessary to underline that instead of common storytelling the narrator refers to association and juxtaposition to intensify readers’ impression of the story. Actually, the novel is powerful, original, and affecting debut exploring the themes of emigration, cultural identity and cultural heritage. The importance of home and family relations are emphasized as well. The narrator tells the story of six Vietnamese refuges who were forced to leave their native country in 1978. They sailed to California shores seeking better life and more opportunities. The main heroine, who remains nameless, is presented as a girl being disoriented by the myriad of sad events occurring in her life. The girl becomes obsessed with a butterfly paperweight. The girl with her father and four uncles appear on the street. Nevertheless, the family can’t get rid of war memories as the narrator says: â€Å"War has no beginning and no end. It crosses oceans like a splintered boat†. Actually, it is the first novel about refugees and challenges they faced when immigrating to American society. The novel is a story about America and Vietnam showing symbolically adult resignation and youthful yearning, tenacity of hopes and past loses. The first-person narrator remains nameless, as it is mentioned above, is a Vietnamese girl who manages to escape by boat with her father and reach the shores of San Diego. Girl’s Ba is a house painter, and then he works as welder and gardener. When mother joins them, their family relations become filled with tensions and misunderstanding. Moreover, the father is haunted by the past as far as it is wrapped up in lost of mysterious and strange events. The narrator tells sadly that he is able to seat motionless in the dark for many hours, and â€Å"his body absolutely still, his hands folded on his lap, penitent . . . straining toward things no one can see†. Girl’s father is also the gangster of the title. In particular, he is a former soldier in the South Vietnamese Army. After the war he was sent to re-education camp. However, in America in is a man of drunken rages, but he is never utterly defeated. His daughter says that â€Å"his friends fell all around him, first during the war and then after the war, but somehow he alone managed to crawl here, on his hands and knees, to this life†. The novel is rather symbolic. For example, the mother compares the war with a bird with broken wing: â€Å"War is a bird with a broken wing flying over the countryside, trailing blood and burying crops in sorrow†. In such a way she presents reality of the war. As in may other stories, the ending brings explanation of the mystery. The girl is reconciled with her parents and with her past. Nevertheless, her past is presented in a startling image of fish: â€Å"Out from the darkness of the sea, wave after wave of small, luminous bodies washed to shore†. I think that the novel isn’t easy to follow and narrator’s points aren’t always consistent, but I was really impressed by novel’s liturgical effect. Nobody will remain indifferent when the narrator says: â€Å"I dont know how time moves or which of our sorrows or our desires it is able to wash away†. I like the way the author provides water with symbolical meanings. The narrator tells that â€Å"In Vietnamese the word for water and the word for a nation, a country and a homeland are one and the same: nu’o’c†. Water symbolizes cultural identity and heritage uniting nation. Water is present everywhere throughout the novel progression either figuratively or literally. Water, in my opinion, is both a sign and symbol of the past and present. Water is something that separates and unites people. Water is the beginning and end of life. Immigration to America takes girl’s view of water away covering over the past and worsening relations with family. Water hides her community and homeland. Water is her essential self.

Catholic Views on Social Issues

Catholic Views on Social Issues â€Å"Religion is the set beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relations between human being and sacred or divinity† (Green, 1962, pg. 1). Religion is a way for people to have a strong confidence in something greater than themselves. Religion also brings unity to communities by creating stability and order. On the other hand, some critics may argue that religion creates more conflict than resolution, due to corruption and contradiction. Religion can be defined in three characteristics: Believes and religious practices, the religious feeling (such as faith), and unity in a community of those who share the same faith (such as the Church)† (Green, 1962, pg. 1). Thus, this essay will discuss the changing nature and views of Catholicism on social justice issues such as reproduction, crime and punishment, and same-sex marriage. This essay will argue that Catholicism has now taken a more flexible approach to social justice issues in comparison to how Catholic ism was practiced earlier. Many social theorists of the past have seen the diminishment of religion as imminent and desirable (Mainwaring, 1986). For instance, in 1830, Ludwig Feuerbach dismissed religion as a projection, and deemed that it would not last long. At the same time, Marx agreed with this assessment and believed that religion was an ideological mystification that created a divide between the bourgeoisie and the rest of the classes (Mainwaring, 1986). In a study conducted by Cook (1993) and associates, a state exit poll was conducted in 1990 to determine whether Roman Catholicism affects abortion attitudes. The individual-level effects in which the Church socializes individual members was compared alongside contextual effects, in which the Church affects abortion attitudes by altering the terms of the debate outside the Church’s membership (Cook et al., 1993, p. 223). Both effects were found to be statistically significant (the effects were reliable), although the contextual effects of Catholicism were negative (Cook et al., 1993, p. 223). This part of the study suggested that the Catholic Church is affective in teaching anti-abortion attitudes to its members, but that a strong Catholic presence in a state influences citizens in a counter mobilization way, on the part of non-Catholics (Cook et al., 1993, p. 223). Oliver (2008) makes an excellent point in understanding the relationship between the Catholic Church and social justice. For instance, Oliver (2008) states that in order to have a deeper understanding of the Catholic perspective of crime and criminal justice, one must have an understanding of the central concept that lies at the heart of the criminal justice system (p. 3). For instance, there is a human desire for justice. In Catholicism, there are those who are religious that seek justice in the world so that God’s will is done on earth. There are also a set group of people who profess no religion that seek justice through the court system based on the rule of law.[1] Oliver (2008, p. 223) also points out that in the mid-1800’s, the Catholic Church had prodded the medical community to prevent midwives and rogue doctors from performing abortions. Further, the Catholic Church drew upon the fact that abortion was immoral, and thus both the Catholic Church and many physicians argued that the health of the woman was put at risk (Oliver, 2008, p. 223). However, as awareness regarding abortions grew and as time went on, there were changing attitudes towards abortion. For instance, doctors claimed that they should be the only ones to carry out abortions (although they were the same doctors that felt it was morally wrong), and the American Medical Association began to hold the reigns of the issues of abortion more so than the Catholic Church. Thus, since the topic of abortion is a social justice issue in which Catholic views on the issues have been changing as opposed to stagnant, this supports the thesis that Catholic standpoints are becoming less stringent than they were previously. The other issue related to the social justice topic of abortion is the topic of justice in and of itself. Justice in the Catholic faith brings in another perspective. From the Catholic standpoint, justice is based on the word of God, the teaching of Jesus Christ, and the Traditions of the Roman Catholic Church (Oliver, 2008, p. 4). Moreover, in American penal organizations, Post-revolutionary Catholicism favoured a democratic model of authority, local autonomy, and the separation of the Church and the state (Stotnicki, 2013, p. 83). In other words, a congregational pattern of church polity was regarded as the most acceptable model of the prison system (Stotnick, 2013, p. 83). Thus, this points to a symbiotic relationship between Catholicism and the criminal justice system in which Catholicism worked hand-in-hand with social justice, and in some cases, removing signs of religion from within the system to maintain the justice system’s autonomy. However, in 1973 an event in New Y ork changed the landscape in which Catholic teachings would be allowed in the penal system. For instance, in 1973, the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) published a Reform paper on Correctional Institutions in the 70s and claimed that certain practices they were proponents of, decreased recidivism rates, while results showed the opposite-that recidivism rates increased with such practices (Stotnicki, 2013, p. 84). The other issues with the paper were that the paper called for rehabilitation without defining what it meant by the term and what goals would be accomplished (Ibid., p. 84). Lastly, the paper called for alternatives to prison, without giving examples of such alternatives (Ibid., p. 84). Furthermore, Stotnicki (2013) argues that the concept of deterrence does not fit in with the Catholic religion. Thus, this could point to delineation where the Catholic tradition had less of an impact on the penal system than it did in previous decades. A principle component of Catholicism and the criminal justice system is that incapacitation should be used to reshape the beneficent values of a market economy on a case-by-case basis (Stotnicki, 2013). What is interesting about trends in social justice and Catholicism is that in a Gallup poll conducted in 2004, 71% of Protestants and 66% of Catholics support the use of capital punishment (Stotnicki, 2012). Although this poll was taken over 10 years ago, what is interesting is that capital punishment is not in line with the New Testament although arguably, it is an Old Testament principle; this is fodder against the argument that Catholicism has not taken a flexible approach in comparison to earlier years if the Gallup poll is anything to go by. On the other hand, opinions (particularly with people that identify as Catholic) might be changing in as fast as 10 years. The last issue that warrants mention on the topic of Catholicism and social justice is the topic of same-sex marriages. The topic of same-sex marriage is a social justice issue because it is an issue which affects a large segment of the population and it is a contentious issue which has sparked debate over the last few decades in Western society. For instance, Dempsey (2008) demonstrates that the Catholic Church holds the view that circumstances may increase the culpability of a person to engage in homosexual acts (p. 77). Furthermore, Dempsey (2008) points out that Catholics believe that respect for the basic human dignity of the homosexual entails respect for his ability to cooperate freely with God’s grace in turning from evil ways and embracing a chaste life in Christian love (Ibid., p. 77). The Catholic Church affirms the natural law and Christian vision of marriage as the loving and life-giving union of a man and a woman (Dempsey, 2008, p.77). Furthermore, the Catholic C ongregation beliefs that â€Å"a person engaging in homosexual behaviour therefore acts immorally.† (Ibid., p. 77). The Catholic teaching then tries to take a scientific spin on the union of marriage by arguing that homosexual activity is not a complimentary union, able to transmit life, and so it halts the call to life and thus of self-giving, in which the Gospel claims is the essence of Christian living. Thus, the Catholic Church tries to use morality and science to argue against the notion of same-sex marriages. On one hand, the Catholic Church respects homosexuals as people, yet on the other hand, part of the statement calls such acts â€Å"evil† and invites the â€Å"evil-doer† to embrace a chaste life in Christian love. Thus, in this regard, the Catholic Church still has a long ways to go before it deals wholly with the issues of same-sex marriage and homosexuality. Having said that, in an interview with Pope Francis in the summer of 2013, the Pope stated that while homosexual acts were sinful, homosexual orientation was not.[2] This shift in attitude although still stringent but making some leeway towards homosexuality, demonstrates that there has been a change to views on homosexuality as the world becomes more global and accepting of same-sex marriages. The other reason why the topic of same-sex marriage is a social justice issue is because it has been an issue that has seen the inside of courtrooms throughout historical debate. For instance, Olson and associates (2006) argue that public opinion has had a major impact on same-sex marriage discourse. Furthermore, Canadian cases like M. v. H. [1999] has provided awareness to the cause of same sex-marriages. In the case of M.v.H, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered Ontario to amend its definition of family to include cohabitation of partners (whether male or female). Thus, in this case, lesbian and gay couples were given the same rights and responsibilities that married, opposite-sex couples traditionally have. Further to Olson and associates’ (2006, p. 342) study, while Americans have become less willing to restrict the civil rights of gays and lesbians, religion has been seen as a sometimes ambiguous influence on the opinions on homosexuality. Once again, these findings indicate that there have been small steps in Catholic opinions on homosexuality and same sex marriage. Conclusion Skotnicki (2013) argues that the Catholic Church plays a limited role in determining American correctional policy due to a failure at variance with significant developments in its own history (p.1). Skotnicki’s (2013) statement points to either a reform in Catholic policies in order to co-exist in the changing times, or more flexibility in its outlook on criminal justice practices. In critiquing the effect that Catholicism has had in the criminal justice system, Stotnicki (2013) further argues that while the prison system needs a clear system of why it has the right to punish- not in terms of vengeance of self-interest, but in terms of human life and human community, the Catholic Church has failed to provide significant help in addressing the crisis of punishment and reoffending. What is clear is that the Catholic Church’s landscape is changing. For instance, Curran (2010) states that the understanding of the Church (ecclesiology) is changing, the sociological relations hip of the Catholic Church to U.S. Society is changing, and the circumstances affecting social justice, along with Catholicism, are changing in the United States. With these changes, the social mission of the Church is also changing, thus allowing for more flexible practices in social justice and social tolerance. References Cook, A.E., Jelen, G.T., Wilcox, C. (1993). Catholicism and Abortion: Attitudes in the American  States: A Contextual Analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 32(3), 223-230. Curran, E. C. (2010). The Social Mission of the U.S. Catholic Church: A Theological  Perspective. (Washington: Georgetown University Press). Dempsey, J, R. (2008). The Catholic Church’s teaching about Same-Sex Marriage. The Linacre  Quarterly, Volume 75. Graham, G. (1962). The Power and the Glory. (UK: Penguin Books).   M.v.H. [1999] 2. S.C.R. 3. Mainwaring, S. (1986). The Catholic Church and Politics in Brazil, 1910-1985. (CA: Stanford  University Press). Oliver, M. W. (2008 ). Catholic Perspectives on Crime and Criminal Justice. (MD: Lexington  Books). Olson, L, R., Cadge, W., Harrison, T. J. (2006). Religion and Public Opinion about same-sex  Marriage. Social Science Quarterly 87(2). Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people? BBC News. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 26 March  2015 from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23489702 Skotnicki, A. (2012). The Last Judgment: Christian Ethics in a Legal Culture. (Vermont:  Ashgate Publishing Company). Skotnicki, A. (2013). The U.S. Catholic Church and Criminal Justice. New Theology Review. [1] It is arguable that the doctrine of the Rule of Law has religious underpinnings. [2] Statement taken from an interview conducted with Pope Francis. Interview Retrieved from BBC News on March 26th 2015 from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23489702

Anne Stevensons The Marriage: An Analysis

Anne Stevensons The Marriage: An Analysis Anne Stevenson’s poem, â€Å"The Marriage,† is a playful, subtle and profound description of the differences between men and women, and the difficulties inherent in such, specifically in regards to the unification of the sexes, both physically, spiritually and in terms of societal conventions (thus the title). By portraying these difficulties in pure physical terms – as a couple trying to come together to rest comfortably in bed – Stevenson is able to build a vivid and surprisingly comprehensive and universal depiction of marriage. The poem is from the point of view of the wife, perhaps the author herself, who is trying to figure out a way to position her body against her husband’s so the two will be able to rest snugly at night. With both of them facing the same direction, she in front, he in back, they are nearly successful, but only: †¦if her backbone Cuts exactly into his rib cage And only if his knees Dock exactly under her knees And all four Agree on a common angle Thus positioned – provided their bodies willingly correspond – the husband and wife have achieved unification, or, at the very least, a modicum of comfort. But this is a small victory, or even a false one, for as the narrator continues: All would be well If only They could face each other In three lines, Stevenson has perfectly summed up what plagues marriages, old and new alike: that men and women are inherently different. Not that one is superior and the other inferior – she seems to prescribe to the â€Å"separate but equal† doctrine that is the norm in her homeland of American and her adopted country of England – but that they are uniquely separate entities. Men and women think differently, act differently, and are proportioned differently. And any kind of union between the two, any form of coming-together, is marked my problems. The poet is also asserting that in order for this to occur, a compromise must be enacted. And in any kind of compromise, some things are won (the couple â€Å"fit†) and some are lost (they are not facing each other). While the partners have achieved a level of comfort and intimacy, with her backbone nicely fitting into his rib cage, and his knees docking perfectly under hers, they have lost a major component of such, as they cannot look at one another. Stevenson’s vision of compromise is universal, and does not apply to merely physical situations. The implications correspond to any aspect of a relationship, including, for example, where a couple chooses to settle (one likes the city, one likes the country, so they move to the suburbs), to how they raise their kids (one is a fan of television, one isn’t, so the child watches a minimum amount), to how they spend their money (one likes extravagant things, one prefers simple things, so they buy items that are moderately priced). In all of these situations, both parties are content in that they have achieved satisfaction. While neither got everything they were asking for, each partner got enough (presumably, at least) to remain content. This â€Å"partial victory† is the crux of a successful relationship. But Stevenson is not finished. She goes on with her physical description of the pair, who meet: Nose to neck Chest to scapula Groin to rump And yet, even though the situation is still not ideal – they are unable to face each other, after all – in even this there is a silver lining: They look, at least As if they were going In the same direction While this is merely a small caveat – notice her use of the phrase â€Å"they look, at least,† as if this is merely the appearance of agreement – even so, it is something. And this small something, again, this tiny â€Å"victory† is often enough to make all the difference. Stevenson is celebrating the small moments of daily life and the small â€Å"victories† that are won through compromise. Are the couple, or, in fact, are any man and woman perfectly matched? No. Are there differences between the two that will never be breached? Certainly. But does this mean that one cannot work with this other to achieve some form of balance, even if it is not perfect? Of course not. And, at least in the poet’s mind, this transcendence of differences makes it even more special. In Stevenson’s world, a husband and wife half-consciously groping for each other in the middle of the night is as important as any other compromise made between the sexes. A man moves halfway across the world to be with the woman he loves. A woman changes her religion to be with the man she loves. Both are noble and tremendous acts, but are just as heroic as the couple fumbling in bed. Love, marriage, etc., is both gigantic and intimate, and every act of coming together is important. But let us quickly go back to these words: They look, at least As if they were going In the same direction This passage holds another meaning, that of the fact that the couple is actually not going in the same direction, but only appear to be. Stevenson is saying that looks are deceiving, and while the pair seems to be in agreement, they are in reality far from it. This is a reinforcement of her belief that the sexes are different, and even when they don’t seem to be (a husband and wife both like the same television program, for example, but he enjoys it for the action, she for the sexy leading man), in truth their agendas and perceptions are widely divergent, more than ever. To demonstrate her view of marriage, Stevenson adopts a casual, easy, free verse style, one that is relaxed and light. The words are simple and straightforward, and the situation is commonplace and routine. Underneath, of course, it is a different story, as the subject matter – the differences between the sexes, and how these differences can be overcome – is neither easy nor commonplace. And while she uses the couple’s awkward brushing of body parts to personify this subtext, even this is muted. However, her choice of illustration is highly effective, and she doesn’t need to cloud the issue with excessive metaphor or lofty language. In fact, her technique actually apes her point of view. The mundane act of a man and woman trying to sleep comfortably together is profound, as it not only acts as a representation for the larger compromises that couples must make, but is on its own special and meaningful. By keeping it simple, Stevenson demonstrates the comple x and universal. Anne Stevenson, unlike the never-married Emily Dickinson and Elizabeth Bishop (who she is often compared to), has been wed four times. Since 1987 she has been with the Darwin scholar Peter Lucas, and no doubt in those seventeen years she has learned a thing or two about compromise. Her poem â€Å"Marriage† perfectly captures the disparities between men and women, and the contortions that must be performed to unify the two. Marriage, relationships, love, etc., are wondrous, unique things, as are men and women themselves, but they are also universal. Couples must compromise to survive, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ones. But all of these compromises are significant, and all of them make us human. Stevenson’s poem, like marriage itself, is both incredibly simple and tremendously complicated. Her basic, straightforward words could not be more profound. Bibliography Hickling, Alfred. â€Å"Border Crossings.† The Guardian Unlimited. 2 Oct. 2004. Stevenson, Anne. Poems 1955-2005. Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2005.