Endowment Effect, Behavioural, and Standard Economics Theories Essay

Endowment Effect, Behavioural, and Standard Economics Theories - Essay Example Regardless of the participants’ immense experience in the real world market, he found out that the willingness to accept the mugs was nearly three times higher than the willingness to pay. This is an indication that even experienced negotiators are also susceptible to the endowment effect (Angeletos, Repetto, Tobacman, and Weinberg, 2001; p. 57). The result of these two experiments is similar indicating that the human brain makes a decision almost in a similar way and on the other hand, it is apparent to note that persons under the same environmental conditions often operate under the same constraints (List, 2004; p. 617). It should also be noted that the same constraints affect even those who have experience in certain fields. The endowment effect can be analysed using neoclassical or standard economics that is strongly built on the assumptions that ever turned to well established facts (Babcock et al. 1994; pg. 928). The most vital and preferred assumption is that all econom ic agents that include consumers, suppliers, and companies among others are fully rational and their visible hand works create market efficiency (Knetsch and Wong, 2009; p. 410). Rational economists often consider these assumptions a basic, logical, and self-evident; hence, they do not require any empirical scrutiny (Babcock and Loewenstein, 1997; p. 110). Materialism has also been identified as one of the forces behind endowment effect. Some people believe that the material they own is a central occupation that provides them with success and happiness. Using materialism to determine the existence of endowment effect, 317 first year students at Katholieke University Leuven, Belgium were subjected to a study. The survey provided a...This paper discusses the endowment effect, which can be analysed using neoclassical or standard economics that is strongly built on the assumptions that ever turned to established facts Materialism has also been identified as one of forces behind endowmen t effect. Analysing endowment effect through experimental evidence often leads to the behavioural economics that targets the analysis of new variables that are often ignored by the standard economics Endowment effect largely depends on behavioural decision making that analyses how people often make certain decisions. Behavioural decision-making is a vital field that is used by different other fields including psychology, political science, management, and economics among other Endowment effect is an essential element in economics since it causes conflict between the actual behaviour and macroeconomic theory that says that value of an object should be independent of the ownership The core behavioural economics depict realism of the psychological economic analysis that aims at improving the economics on its own terms including generating better phenomena predictions, generating theoretical insights, and suggesting better policies At the same time behavioural economics does not disregard neoclassical approach to the understanding and analysis of economics and neither does it reject utility maximization, efficiency, and equilibrium The understanding of standard economics is purely pegged on the understanding of behavioural economics without concentrating on the psychology of such concepts. In regards to human behaviour, standard economics model assumes that the actions of people are fully pegged on their full information on the action in question

The Almanac of American Politics (2008) Essay Example for Free

The Almanac of American Politics (2008) Essay Presidential election results (2000, 2004) The following pages are quoted verbatim from the Almanac of American Politics, 2006 edition: American politics has devolved into a grim battle between two approximately equal-size armies in a take-no-prisoners culture war. In 2000, those armies fought to a near-draw—out of more than 100 million ballots cast, the presidency of the United States hinged on a breathtakingly slim 537-vote margin in Florida. Four years later, despite the occurrence of a recession, two wars, and a devastating terrorist attack on American soil, the two adversaries remain fairly evenly divided. In the wake of an acrimonious election where both political parties together spent roughly $4 billion on the federal elections the crisis spilled over into other areas of American politics: health and welfare spending, handling of the economy, and the continued occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan (Barone and Cohen, 2006) State Profile NEW JERSEY State Profile The following data and information about this state is taken from the 2006 Almanac of American Politics. â€Å"New Jersey boomed in the 1980s, suffered sharply in the early 1990s recession, came back strongly, and is now weathering the high-tech storms with mixed success.† At A Glance Size: 8,721 square miles Population in 2000: 8,414,350; 94.3% urban; 5.7% rural Population in 1990: 7,730,188 Population Change: Up 8.6% 1990-2000; Up 5.0% 1980-1990 Population Rank: 9th of 50; 3.0% of total U.S. population Most Populous Cities: Newark (277,911); Jersey City (239,097); Paterson (150,782); Elizabeth (123,215); Trenton (85,314) Registered Voters: 1,163,224 D (23.2%); 884,801 R (17.7%); 2,957,934 unaffiliated and minor parties (59.1%) State Senate: 22 D 18 R State General Assembly: 49 D 31 R State Legislative Term Limits: No Key Elected Officials Gov. Jon Corzine (D) Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) Sen. Robert Menendez (D) Representatives: (6 D, 6 R, 1 V): Robert Andrews (D-01) Loida Nicolas Lewis (D-02) Jim Saxton (R-03) Chris Smith (R-04) Scott Garrett (R-05) Frank Pallone (D-06) Michael Ferguson (R-07) Bill Pascrell (D-08) Steven Rothman (D-09) Donald Payne (D-10) Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11) Rush Holt (D-12) Vacant; formerly Robert Menendez (D-13) About New Jersey The Northeast has long been the nation’s least conservative region and turned out the biggest bonanza for the Democrats in their surge to an even greater House majority in 2008: 15 of the 25 seats the party took from the GOP were in the area.   Democrats say this â€Å"reverse alignment† — counterbalancing the Southern shift to the GOP — rolls on (The Electoral Map, 2007). â€Å"A valley of humility between two mountains of conceit: That is what Benjamin Franklin called New Jersey, which even in colonial days was overshadowed by the metropolises of New York and Philadelphia. New Jersey was named by King James II, then Duke of York, for the Channel Island on which he was sheltered during the English Civil War. But New Jersey has much to say for itself. It is a sort of laboratory in which the best blood is prepared for other communities to thrive on, Woodrow Wilson said when he was governor, just a tad defensively. Today, New Jersey is the nations tenth most populous state: It boomed in the 1980s, suffered sharply in the early 1990s recession, came back strongly, and is now weathering the high-tech storms with mixed success. New Jersey was the home of Thomas Edison and of the old Bell Labs; its successors Lucent and ATT were among its biggest employers in the 1990s. Other big employers include several of the nations biggest pharmaceutical firmsMerck, Johnson Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Schering-Plough. These industries give the state a high-income, high-education work force, and in 2000 New Jersey passed Connecticut to boast the nations highest median household income. This is prosperous middle-income country, with more two-car than one-car families but fewer limousines than Manhattan, with an estimated 13,500 $1 million houses but not the multi-million dollar co-ops of Manhattan or mansions of Greenwich, Connecticut. Within New Jerseys close boundaries is great diversity, geographically from beaches to mountains, demographically from old Quaker stock to new Hispanics, economically from inner city slums to hunt country mansions. Though New York writers are inclined to look on New Jersey as a land of 1940s diners and 1970s shopping malls, this state much more closely resembles the rest of America than does Manhattan, even if its accents can sometimes be incomprehensible to outsiders. The Jersey City row houses seen on emerging from the Holland Tunnel, many renovated by Wall Street commuters and Latin immigrants, give way within a few miles to the skyscrapers of Newark and its new Performing Arts Center. Farther out are comfortably packed middle-income suburbs and the horse country around Far Hills, the university town of Princeton, old industrial cities like Paterson and Trenton, and dozens of suburban towns and small factory cities where people work and raise families over generations. Among them are commuter towns like Middletown, whose commuter trails lead to Lower Manhattan, and which lost dozens of neighbors on September 11. A year later, only 37% of New Jersey citizens said their lives had returned to normal and 29% said they would never be the same; 43% said they thought about the attacks every day. New Jersey has long been a magnet for immigrants, and it is again today. In 2000, 29% of its residents were born in another country or had a parent who was; only California and New York have larger percentages of foreign-born residents. Hudson County, the land along the ridge opposite Manhattan, was the home to hundreds of thousands of Irish, Italian, Polish and Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century; in 2003 it was 41% Hispanic, with Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Mexicans. Immigrants are plentiful in the little middle-American towns of Bergen County, Filipinos in Bergenfield, Guatemalans in Fairview, Koreans in Leonia, Indians in Lodi, Chinese in Palisades Park. The old central cities of Elizabeth and Paterson were half-Hispanic in 2000 and Camden, opposite Philadelphia, was 39% Hispanic. There is still a black majority in Newark, but it includes many of the Brazilians in the Ironbound district. New Jersey has all the ethnic variety that America offers. In the last two decades, a new New Jersey has sprouted. The oil tank farms and swamplands of the Jersey Meadows have become sports palaces and office complexes; the Singer factory in Elizabeth, the Western Electric factory in Kearny, the Ford plant in Mahwah, the Shulton plant in Clifton are all gone, replaced by shopping centers or hotels or other development, and the GM plant in Linden, the last New Jersey auto plant, closed in April 2005; the intersection of I-78 and I-287 has become a major shopping and office edge city; U.S. 1 north from Princeton to North Brunswick has become one of the nations high-tech centers. Even some of New Jerseys long-ailing central cities are perking up. New Jersey increasingly has an identity of its own. It is the home of big league football, basketball and hockey franchisesthough after nearly three decades, two of them have threatened to moveand of the worlds longest expanse of boardwalks on the Jersey Shore from Cape May to Sandy Hook. And New Jersey is one of Americas great gambling centers: Atlantic City, an hour from Philadelphia and two hours from Manhattan, had gambling revenues in 2006 ($8.2 billion) that nearly matched the Las Vegas strip ($8.8 billion). State government played an important role in building New Jersey identity and pride. In the 1970s, Governor Brendan Byrne started the Meadowlands sports complex and got casino gambling legalized in Atlantic City. Governor Tom Kean in the 1980s started education reforms and promoted the state shamelessly. The revolt against Governor Jim Florios tax increase in 1990 was led by the first all-New Jersey talk radio station and took on national significance with the 1993 election of Christine Todd Whitman, who later became EPA Administrator. In the next decade crime and welfare rolls dropped, but auto insurance and property taxes remain the highest in the nation. New Jersey, contained within two of the nations biggest metropolitan areas, was also a harbinger of the national trend in the big metro areas toward Bill Clintons Democrats. Not so long ago, suburban New Jersey was one of the most Republican of big states: It voted 56%-42% for the first George Bush in 1988. But in 1996 New Jersey voters, turned off by the congressional Republicans Southern leaders and by the national partys opposition to abortion and gun control, voted 54%-36% for Clinton and 53%-43% for Democrat Bob Torricelli for the Senate. In 1997 Whitman, despite cutting taxes, was reelected by only 47%-46% over little-known Democrat Jim McGreevey. In 2000 Al Gore carried the state 56%-40%. In 2001 McGreevey defeated Republican Bret Schundler for governor by 56%-42% and in 2002, after an unorthodox campaign, Democrat Frank Lautenberg defeated Republican Douglas Forrester for senator by 54%-44%very similar margins. Democrats cinched control of both houses of the legislature in 2003. New Jerseys politicians compete in a market that is the second most expensive in the nation, because they have to buy New York and Philadelphia television. And they have a special handicap, because those stations dont give state politics and government the in-depth coverage that voters in most states can expect. This gives an advantage to well-known candidates, like former Senator Bill Bradley, and to incumbents with a distinctive style and notable achievements, like Governors Byrne, Kean and Whitman, and to self-funders like Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jon Corzine. But it also means that high-income, highly educated New Jersey politics is often the business of county and city political machines, of varying degrees of competence, cronyism and corruption. It is, astonishingly, a great advantage in both parties to have the designation of the local county party on the primary ballot. A 1993 campaign finance law allowed county parties to take contributions 18 times as large as candidates could, so money is increasingly raised by chairmen of parties that have control of local government and can dole out contractsthe Jersey term is pay to playand then wheeled, or doled out, to favored candidates all over the state. McGreevey, elected in 2001 after his near-defeat of Whitman in 1997, was a product of the Middlesex County Democratic machine and served as both mayor of Woodbridge and state senatorin New Jersey, as in France, politicians can be town mayors and legislators at the same time. Second District, New Jersey 2008 Congressional Election Results (Second District, New Jersey) NJ-02 District Profile: Politically, Atlantic City often votes Democratic but has an antique Republican machine that goes back generations. 2008 Results: First-timer Loida Nicolas-Lewis (D) roundly defeated Frank LoBiondo (R) by 64-31% Loida Nicolas-Lewis (R) Nicolas-Lewis was nominated with 72% in a two-way primary. Contact: 212-756-8900 †¢Ã‚  Campaign Web site †¢Ã‚  Official Web site †¢Ã‚  Almanac biography Frank LoBiondo (D) Elected in 1994; Seeking eighth term; LoBiondo barely emerged from the primary with 50.5% pf the vote. Contact: 856-794-2004 †¢Ã‚  Campaign Web site †¢Ã‚  Official Web site †¢Ã‚  Almanac biography Profile of the District (Source: Almanac of American Politics) When the builders of the Camden Atlantic Railroad in 1852 extended the line to the little inlet town of Absecon, little did they know what would become Americas biggest beach resort, Atlantic City. Like all resorts, it was a product of developments elsewhere: of industrialization and spreading affluence, of railroad technology and the conquest of diseases which used to make summer a time of terror for parents and doctors. In the years after the Civil War, first Atlantic City and then the whole Jersey Shore from Brigantine to Cape May became Americas first seaside resort, and Atlantic City developed its characteristic features: the Boardwalk in 1870, the amusement pier in 1882, the rolling chair in 1884, salt water taffy in the 1890s, Miss America in 1921. By 1940, 16 million Americans visited every summer, Atlantic City was a common mans resort of old traditions; but the place became less popular after World War II as people could afford nicer vacations. By the early 1970s, Atlantic City was grim. Then in 1977, New Jersey voters legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City and gleaming new hotels sprang up, big name entertainers came in and Atlantic City became more glamorous than it had been in 90 years. But not for all of its residents: Casino and hotel jobs tend to be low-wage, and the slums begin just feet from the massive parking lots of the casinos. In the 1990s Atlantic Citys gambling business was thrivingcasinos came out ahead $4.3 billion in 2000and huge new casinos were built on both Boardwalk and bayside. Over Donald Trumps objections, Steve Wynn won approval of a new tunnel, which would permit him to build a new casino in the marina district. Now listed among the top 10 House districts nationwide for tourist economies, Atlantic City is growing into what Las Vegas has become, not just a collection of gaudy casinos but a gaggle of theme parks, with entertainment for the family as well as adults. The Jersey Shore south of Atlantic City is a string of different resorts. Behind the Shore are swamp and flatland, the Pine Barrens and vegetable fields that gave New Jersey the name Garden State. Growth has been slow in these small towns and gas station intersections, communities in whose eerie calmness in the summer you can hear mosquitoes whining. In the flatness, you can also find towns clustered around low-wage apparel factories or petrochemical plants on the Delaware estuary; the Northeast high-tech service economy has not reached this far south in Jersey yet. This part of South Jersey makes up the 2d Congressional District. Politically, it has strong Democratic presences in the chemical industry towns along the Delaware River and in Vineland and a strong Republican presence in Cape May; Atlantic City often votes Democratic.   The party carried the area in all 1990s statewide elections and won easily in the 1996 and 2000 presidential races. This is prime marginal territory, off the beaten track of Northeast politics. The Incumbent New Jersey 2d voters finally gave seven-termer Frank LoBiondo the boot long after he had promised not to run for more than six terms.   Even loyal Republicans angrily crossed party lines owing to a series of indiscretions and scandals.   Chief of these was involvement in the Abscam scandal and the revelation that Harrah’s had been the single biggest contributor to his campaigns all along.   Sentiment against the Iraq war also focused on his voting record of going along with every bill sponsored by the White House that related to funding and deployment in that country and Afghanistan. Other aspects of his legislative record that came to light in a bad way were having voted with DeLay seven in eight times, agreeing to weaken ethics rules and assenting to bringing indictment hearings behind closed doors.   The last straw turned out to be outtakes from the local Harrah’s security cameras proving it was LoBiondo after all who had been, and still was, carrying on an affair with Vicki Iseman the telecoms lobbyist whom the New York Times had wrongly linked with John McCain. Mere minutes after LoBiondo conceded the election in November, his wife held her own press conference to announce she was divorcing LoBiondo.   The following day, a downcast ex-congressmen was seen off at the airport departing for parts unknown, muttering something about getting in a few rounds of golf with the Bushes. The 2008 Election Winner Loida Nicolas Lewis Born: July 20, 1957 Family: Husband, Reginald (deceased); two daughters Religion: Roman Catholic Education: St. Theresa’s College (Philippines), A.B. 1972 (summa cum laude) University of the Philippines, Ll.B. 1976 (summa cum laude) Harvard, J.D. 1985 Career: Chairman/CEO, Beatrice International Holdings, Inc. President, Confederation of Asian-American Associations Immigration lawyer Elected Office: None 2008 New Member Profiles New Jerseys Second District: Loida Nicolas-Lewis (D) The Almanac of American Politics  © National Journal Group Inc. From out of nowhere and riding a wave of anti-administration sentiment among minorities in the district, the inexperienced but highly intelligent and articulate Loida Lewis captured the imagination of voters and soundly trounced the incumbent by an unprecedented 2:1 margin.   No one was more surprised than Representative LoBiondo himself. Loida first came to national attention and even gained a measure of fame after her husband, the famed African-American deal-maker Reginald Lewis engineered a leveraged buyout of Beatrice Foods International.   On completing the LBO deal with the help of Michael Milliken at Drexel Burnham Lambert, the press hailed Reginald and the flagship TLC Beatrice as the most successful African-American enterprise ever.   When Reginald foundered in his choice of domestic acquisitions that would allow Beatrice to balance industry cycles in Europe and especially after Reginald’s death, Loida earned the respect of minority stakeholders for her business acumen as CEO. Three months before the primaries, Loida landed in the short list of Gov. Corzine owing to her decade-long work with minority associations on both coasts.   An informal dinner with campaign managers of Sen. Obama and President-Elect Clinton made the choice official. In the ensuing campaign, Loida Lewis proved herself a soft-spoken but very articulate and highly moral rival to the flagging and corruption-prone image of the incumbent.   With unfailingly good press, unanimous support from every minority association and church group, and extremely good rapport with businessmen, Loida Lewis was happy enough to leave the mudslinging to the press.   To no one’s surprise, she won handily and immediately won kudos from the House leadership. THIS SECTION ADAPTED FROM ALMANAC OF AMERICAN POLITICS 2008 (Almanac, 2007) Committees Foreign Relations (10th of 11 D) European Affairs; African Affairs; East Asian Pacific Affairs; International Development Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs International Environmental Protection. Health, Education, Labor Pensions (11th of 11 D) Employment Workplace Safety; Children Families. Homeland Security Governmental Affairs (8th of 9 D) Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services International Security; Investigations; State, Local Private Sector Preparedness Integration. Veterans Affairs (2nd of 8 D). Group Ratings ADA ACLU AFS LCV ITIC NTU COC ACU CFG FRC    2008 95 83 100 100 75 16 55 8 7 0 2009 100 100 95 6 39 8 0 National Journal Ratings 2008 LIB 2008 CONS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009 LIB 2009 CONS ECONOMIC 87% 12% 87% 0% SOCIAL 77% 18% 77% 21% FOREIGN 76% 15% 85% 12% Key Votes Of The 109th Congress 1 Bar ANWR Drilling Y 2 FY06 Spending Curb N 3 Estate Tax Repeal N 4 Raise Minimum Wage Y 5 Recognize Filipino WW2 veterans Y 6 Path to Citizenship Y 7 Bar Same Sex Marriage Y 8 Stem Cell Research $ N 9 Limit Interstate Abortion Y 10 CAFTA Y 11 Urge Iraq Withdrawal Y 12 Provide Detainee Rights Y References Almanac (2007) Almanac of American politics 2008. National Journal. Barone, M. and Cohen, R. E. (2006) The almanac of American politics, 2006. Retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/161479.ctl. The Electoral Map (2007) Do Democrats still have room for growth in the northeast? Retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://theelectoralmap.com/2007/11.

Increased Demand For More Resource Intensive Food Economics Essay

Increased Demand For More Resource Intensive Food Economics Essay The increasingly of enhanced productivity and yields of the farm sector have been driving the worldwide food prices falling for the past 25 years. However, this phenomenon came to a sudden change due to the global food prices increased dramatically by 2007, creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Increased demand for more resource intensive food The head of the International Food Policy Research Institute stated in 2008 that the gradual change in diet among newly prosperous populations is the most important factor underpinning the rise in global food prices(Wikipedia, 2010), most notably in developing country like China and India. Rising of consumption of meat particularly has resulted in increase demand for grains; One kilogram of beef requires eight kilograms of feed grain, so as the demand for meat surges, consumption of grains by cattle soars, that driving up grain prices. Issue of bio-fuel subsidies Both the United States and European Union have implemented policies by giving the subsidies for ethanol and bio-diesel production to many farmers which have prompted them to switch to production for bio-fuel, even though exactly how effective they are at generating less CO2 emissions and decelerating global warming is actively debated. Ultimately this has diverted the land away from production of corn and soy for food, and reduced the supply of land devoted to growing crops that dont received bio-fuel subsidies, such as wheat. As a result, it generated a huge effect on demand for corn and soy beans. In 2007, for example, the U.S. increase in demand for corn-based ethanol accounted for more than half of the worldwide increase in demand for corn. The problem of imposition of high tariffs From the U.S. and EU markets by high tariffs, which are shutting out manufacturers of alternative products that can be turned into bio-fuels, most remarkably sugar cane, So as a result, the price of imported sugar cane is increased and making it extremely uncompetitive with subsidized corn and soy beans, this is unfortunate as sugar cane is a more environmentally friendly raw material for bio-fuels than corn and soy beans. As matter of fact, the circumstances may get even poorer, in case policy makers have their way. Policies in both U.S. and the EU require increase in the production of bio-fuels, but none of them has permitted decreasing tariff barriers on sugar cane or to remove the trade distorting subsides given to those who generate corn and soy for bio-fuels. 2) Case Discussion Questions 1 Answer Who benefits from government policies to (a) promote production of ethanol and (b) place tariff barriers on imports of sugar cane? Who suffers as a result of these policies? The policies who benefit from the government policies to promote production of ethanol will be the country and its domestic producers. For this case, it will be United States and the domestics producers in United States. Also, it will provide the producers with the chance to expand or increase their export market. For example, Archer Daniels Midland Company is one of the United States domestic company which turn crops into renewable products. At the same time, the tariff barriers on imports of sugar cane would minimize the foreign imports. Most of people believe that the ethanol production provides large benefits to the farmers, but in fact the profits to farmer are minimal. However, most of the domestics producers (like Archer Daniels Midland) are making huge profits from ethanol production which were received the ethanol subsidies. (EV World, 2002) Refer to the attached table from the United States Energy Information Administration: Table 1: In the recent year, the production of ethanol in United States is fully consumption by them and the continuous declined the import of ethanol. This is well obviously the domestics consumption and no import market for the ethanol. In additional, sugar cane, corn and soybeans are mainly used for production of biofuel. Most of the developed countries (e.g. China and India) are usually provided the subsidies, it will make the production of corn, sugar cane increasing faster and the farmers will plant more. These will be also beneficial to the developed countries. The land owners will give the benefit as well as the more ethanol production needed more arable land for crops. On the other hand, the consumers will suffer by paying more for the corn, sugar cane, etc. as the demand for ethanol is increased. In addition, the drivers in United States will suffer a lack of competition as the ethanol prices are higher. Also, the energy and pollution need to be balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production. 3) Case Discussion Questions 2 Answer One estimate suggests that if food prices rise by one-third, they will reduce living standards in rich countries by about 3%, but in very poor ones by about 20%. According to the international food policy research institute, unless policies change, cereal prices will rise by 10% to 20% by 2015, and the expansion of bio-fuel production could reduce calorie intake by 2% To 8% by 2020 in many of the worlds poorest nations. Should rich countries do anything about this potential problem? If so, what Yes we do, from the perspective of ethics the rich nations should provide helps hence these nations is already very well developed and they have more resources or extra resources to reallocate to the poor nations by providing helps to save life. Double approach To tackle the current situation of high food prices by providing emergency assistance to the poorest countries is needed. By revitalizing rural communities and re-launching agriculture are the key elements to reduce hunger and ensure an improved world food situation. Protecting the people who suffers hunger in rural and urban areas would require direct food distribution, food subsidies, cash donation and nutritional programs, such as school feeding. Enhance social protection is also very important for vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, elderly and the children. For short-term action, local food production should be the first prioritize. Subsides program should include the distribution to local farmers of fertilizers, seeds, animal feed or other input. Support should focus on agricultural research serving the needs of poor farmers, many of whom farm in increasingly marginal areas; poor farmers should have better access to factors of production, namely land, water and inputs. If this program worked effectively, such program would enhance the supply response in poor countries and improve food availability, during the increase of the income with small producers and it might also reduce price increases in local markets as well. For mid and long term actions, high food prices also represent an opportunity for increase investments in agriculture by both the private and public sectors to stimulate production and enhance productivity. Invite private firm for investment into long neglected areas such as agricultural research, extension for infrastructure, on the other hand production and trade policies on bio fuels may also need to be re-examined for their possible effects on food markets and food security, especially in those vulnerable countries. If all the short and long terms projects which works effectively, the food prices should decline dramatically because the supply of food increase and it could save millions of peoples who dont have to suffers of hungers and diseases, It may stop the wars between the poor countries which competes again for access to resources. 4) Case Discussion Questions 3 Answer The argument for giving subsides to ethanol producer rests upon the assumption that ethanol results in lower CO2 emission than gasoline and therefore benefits the environment. If we accept that global warming is a serious problem in itself, should we not be encouraging government to increase such subsides? What are the arguments for and against doing so? On balance, what do you think is the best policy? Biofuel as E85 is an ethanol fuel that typically contains a blend of up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. E85 is commonly used in the United States and Europe. Ethanol is one of the best tools to address environmental issues such as reduction in greenhouse effect and exhaust pipe emissions. Because ethanol is made from renewable, plant-based feedstock such as corn or sugar cane. The CO2 released during a vehicle in motion is recycled during the growth of ethanol feedstock. In 2007, U.S. governments have given subsidies to farmers caused that corn production increased to 85 million tons from around 15 million tons in 2000. Also subsidies amount to between $0.29 and $0.36 per liter of ethanol. In Europe the subsidies are as more as $1 a liter. The greenhouse effect is an essential environmental prerequisite for life on Earth. The problem is human activities destroy and accelerate the process by creating more greenhouse gases which include carbon dioxide, emitted by fossil fuel combustion and deforestation etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Global warming is produced mainly by the growth of greenhouse effect and emission of carbon dioxide. The Earths average surface temperature rose by 0.74 ±0.18  °C over the period 1906-2005. The carbon dioxide emission is estimated some 80 % rise in the economic growth of China. In the meantime the US and EU managed to reduce emissions slightly. It seems that global warming is a serious problem. The initial purpose of the subsidy was to help a nascent biofuels industry, hope to reduce Americas petroleum dependence. However, the ethanol is an effective way to break our petroleum addiction but not be the best of tools to improve the environmental and economic. In case we still encouraging government to increase the subsidies in the ethanol. It can be improved cellulosic technologies for energy efficient, reduce reliance on petroleum or displacement if possible. on the other hand, it may be developed an agriculturally-based rural energy workforce and help domestic producers to earn more revenue and advance economic growth because as the government policy to compete against low-cost foreign imports, gain export markets and improve the environmental better. In turn, Eliminating or not increasing ethanol subsidies will lower your grocery bill, saving $30 billion in wasteful spending and increasing edible maize by 14%. Because subsidies caused high demand for corn and soy beans turn into ethanol, then reduce the supply of land devoted to growing crops, that its existence increases the price of corn, and that food prices rising. On balance, I think the best policy is ethanol has helped in the development of the biofuel infrastructure. The subsidies still carry on but should be set up expiry dates and limit budget, also able to increase subsidies directed towards a broader range of approaches. From the technological and economic benefits, ethanol production still has little potential upside left in process cost reduction. Some subsidies should be used to introduce new competition to markets or support other new technologies to get higher revenue. 5) Application to Hong Kong Business Environment Governments policy is a critical factor. US and EU government implement Bio-Fuel Subsides and high tariff for sugar cane which is part of reason to rise global food price. There are many similar cases in Hong Kong. MTR Corporation Ltd is a typical example. The MTR Corporation was established in 1975 as the Mass Transit Railway Corporation and the Hong Kong Government was the only sole shareholder. Although the Hong Kong Government sold 23% of its issued share capital to private investors in an Initial Public Offering in 2000, Hong Kong Government is still a main shareholder. Since 90s, Hong Kong Government has adopted a transportation policy Railway as a backbone on the public policy. There are now 10 lines, but the Corporation is still developing and expanding its network. Within the next decade, the Corporation will complete five new strategic rail extensions. They include: West Island Line, Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong Express Rail Link, Shatin to Central Link, Kwun Tong Line Extension and South Island Line (East). The Hong Kong Government supports the MTR Corporation Ltd non-stop network expansion. On the other hand, the Government adopts a tight control to others transportation with direct competition with MTR Corporation Ltd. For Example, franchised public bus KMB, who has been constrained the No. of vehicles, Bus routing expansion / abridgment and so on. Application to Hong Kong Resident Supply and Demand is an important issue. Due to the population growth the demand of meet, so the demand of food relatively increase which cause the global food price rise. Hong Kong residents are also affected by the issue of supply and demand of property. The price of property has been dramatically gone up from 40 to 115 since 2002 up to 2012 according to Centa-City Leading Index. In past, the ex- Chief Executive Donald Tsang did not have any policy to increase the supply of property. This result the supply of property maintains on the low level. However, the population of nubile age is increasing and they have a huge of demand on the property. Government is the main supply of property as it provides lands to property developer before property building and it directly build subsidized houses. However, in the past ten years, the supply of property is relatively low. The stop building of subsidized houses and slow land sold by Land Sale by Application, the supply of property is only around 10 thousand per last few years, but the demand of property is around 25 thousand as the No. of the marriages is over 50 thousand in the recent years. It causes a sharp difference between supply and demand. There is not enough supply to fulfil all demand. 6) Conclusion The global food price increase is one of the signs of the global food crisis. Global food crisis is a profound problem to all the human being. 22 countries have already suffered from this issue and more than 900 million people suffer from not having enough to eat every day according to FAO 2010. Global food crisis is more serious than war and environmental crisis as it would create a lot of social issue and affect social stability. Therefore it is time to take precautions before it is too late, we start! General public can as well reduce the food waste. In addition, the case study of global food price increase also shows the importance of governments policy. Government policy affects the business environment the industrys recession or boom. Government policy affects the living standard of general public. To take necessary precautions, Hong Kong resident should keep an eye on government daily operation.

Background analysis of PADINI

Background analysis of PADINI PADINI started to operate its company in Malaysias apparel industry, manufacturing, trading and supplying garments to order for retailers and distributors. The PADINI Concept Store is a concept store that selling all PADINI Holdings brands in one store or one stop shopping. The first outlet that starting to operate in Malaysia was located in Johor Bharu City Square, a shopping complex in Johor Bharu, Malaysia. After PADINI starting to operate in Malaysia, it becomes one of the major forces to apparel and garments industry in Malaysia. Besides, PADINI involved in the distribution and retail of its own fashion labels through 190 freestanding stores, franchise and consignment counters. The main products that sold by PADINI are formal,fashion wear and accessories. Besides, there are various brands that houses in PADINI and all of them are under PADINI. Every brand represents a fashion philosophy and each of the philosophy involve an extensive range of products aimed at targeted consumer. Their brand image is strongly attached importance to the real value: quality, functionality and price. There are eight unique brands under PADINI, which are PADINI ,PADINI Authentics, PDI, P CO, Seed, Miki, Vincci, and Vincci Accessories. All of the brands targeted consumer is due to both sexes and all ages. However Vincci, and Vincci Accessories are more focused on the flexible tastes of woman consumers on shoes, bags and accessories, and Seed Cafà © have open a new dimension in food operations for its company. Vision PADINI state that their vision is to be the market leader in the retail industry. They will achieve the goal through hard work, discipline and creative endeavour. In long terms, they will continue to maintain their high standard of design and manufacturing quality as well as affordability. Besides, they are also working towards expanding the business on a regional basis. At present, they have a growing presence in their neighbour countries, and we believe that there is great scope for growth. Mission The mission that set by PADINI is to create credible products that meet out target customer requirements but exceed their expectation. PADINI Core Value Caring From The Heart Caring from the heart means every staff of company must treat customers from the heart; staffs must care their customer by providing the best services. PADINIs 7 Culture Speed Simplicity Self- Confidence Communication Team Work Learning Culture Consistency Evolution of PADINI Year 1971-1990 Began operations as Hwayo Garments manufacturers Company, a proprietorship carrying out the manufacturing of ladies garments and wholesaling of the finished products to departmental stores. Expand into the trading textiles. Entered the retail industry with the companys pioneering brand PADINI. The brand VINCCI was created. Children wear was launched under MIKI brand. The SEED and ROPE labels were launched. 1991-2007 Establishment of a holding company, Home Stores Sdn. Bhd., to hold all the groups retail, wholesale and manufacturing business. The name Home Stores sdn. Bhd., was changed to PADINI Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Launched of PADINI AUTHENTICS. PADINI Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Became PADINI Holdings Berhad. PADINI HoldingsBerhad listed on the Second Board of the KLSE. PCO was launched in the second half of the year. PDI was created. The first Concept Stores was opened in Johor Bharu City Square. Seed Cafà © and PADINI Dot Com Sdn. Bhd was set up. Re-launcg of PADINI and Rope to new PADINI Workwear Listed on the Main Board of the KLSE The brand Vincci +. Vincci accessories and brands outlet was launched. STATES LOCATION Selangor AEON Bukit Tinggi Shopping Centre Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall Ikano Power Centre 1 Utama Phase 2 Shopping Centre IOI Mall Shopping Centre Kompleks Membeli Belah, Aeon Cheras Selatan Johor Bukit Indah Shopping Centre City Square Shopping Centre Jusco Tebrau City Shopping Centre Kuala Lumpur Mid Valley Megamall Pavilion Kuala Lumpur Penang Gurney Plaza Queensbay Mall Melacca Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall Pahang East Coast Mall Perak Kinta City Shopping Centre Sabah Warisan Square Sarawak The Spring Map of PADINII coverage The Location of PADINI Concept Stores In Malaysia Segmentation As a listed company with such successful result, undeniably PADINI has done segmentizing in terms of demographic, geographic and psychographic. Demographic segmentation include of dividing the market into groups based on variables likes age, gender family size, income, occupation, education, religion, race and nationality. PADINI has segmentized demographic by focusing on the factor like age, gender, income and occupation as the important factor to do the continuous targeting. PADINI has set up 8 brands, which has covered age from baby up to old ages ,gender with male and also female, income which in the range of RM1000-RM2000,RM2001-RM5000 and RM5001above,and finally occupation like office-worker and others semi formal wear which suit majority occupation. This helps the organization to divide the market into several groups and target each of these groups to enhance the performance of the organization. Next, market segmentation strategy whereby the intended audience for a given product is divided according to geographic units, such as nations, states, regions, counties, cities, or neighborhoods.  PADINI has chosen to focus on states as their geographic segmentation, for instances, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur. Lastly, PADINI has also used Psychographic by dividing the industry into different groups based on social class and lifestyle to do perfect segmentation. Targeting From our research, we can say that the targeting strategies used by PADINI is differentiated marketing where PADINI target several segment by offering different products to satisfy the different groups of customer. The targeted groups of customer are derived from the age range that above 7 to 50 and separated according to age and genders. The following table is showing the different targeted groups by offering different products. Group Age Gender Product Type of product Infants and kids Below 7 Both Miki kids Casual Childrens Above 7 and below 12 Both Seed and PADINI Authentic Casual Teenagers or youngsters 12 to 18 Both Seed and PADINI Authentic Casual Adult 18 to 30 female P Co Younger style(Trendy) Adult 18 to 40 Both Seed Casual plus classic stylish designed Teenagers or adult 13 to 50 Female Vincci and Vincci Accessories Female Accessories Adult 18 to 50 Both PDI Casual stylish designed Adult 18 to 60 Both PADINI Formal Differentiation Positioning PADINI used the differentiation strategies of product and image to place the product occupies in the consumers minds. The hottest product of PADINI Seed, use the product differentiation in term of design to place the product occupies in the consumers minds. For example, when a consumer want to buy a semi-formal with classic stylish designed, the Seeds product will come into their minds before thinking of others brand. Besides, Miki kid is also one of the example of product differentiation where the design is specialty for kids. On the other hands, P Co used the image differentiation to place the product occupied in consumers minds. When a consumer want to buy a female clothes with younger style inside the PADINI, the brand of P Co may take the advantage of coming to their mind before others brands. In short, PADINI use the differentiation of professional ,stylish and fashionable to position the products in the consumer minds. Product Consumer Goods  are final goods that are brought from retail stores to satisfy the needs and wants of customers. Products of PADINI falls under consumer product which categorized as shopping products.PADINI itself has other alternatives brands under it. There are PADINI, Seed ,Pdi , PADINI Authentic , PCo, Miki maternity , Vincci , Vincci accessories , Miki kids . The essential of PDI is to emphasis the casual stylish that can be accepted in any occasion. Its purpose to let any guy or girl to get a style fix among the fashion-current jeans, T-shirts, jackets, casual basic-T, belt, socks, scarf and even accessories in a shopper-friendly setting.PADINI is focus more on basic and family lifestyle and aim for anyone who likes and extols casual style. PADINI provides the essential working lifestyle for the modern working man and women. The PADINI collection carries a clean, timeless and modern to the working lifestyle. This brand is focuses on the formal wear and centralize customers base for workers. PADINI has launched out several of tie, belt, shirt and coat. Seed is the confidence of classic and casual plus a refreshing design. Seed emphasize the best of both designs for men, women and even hip kids! The purpose is stand-out style. Seed is focus on urban office-wear for the masses. The clothes under this line are usually jackets, coats, suits, classic office pants and knee-length skirts, semi-formal skirt and belt and also classic jean. In addition to seed cafe, the cafe portrays a bright and contemporary concept which jells with seeds youthful and trendy image. PADINI authentic is more on casually yours. PADINI authentic focus their styleon quality casual wear. Its targets the teenager segment of the market. It sells modern shirt, trendy jean, jackets, shirts and stylish dress. P co is focus on female market and launched all girls skirt, necklace and also hot pants. On the same track where they run ahead in fashions brave new ideas. Women are the largest customer base for P co because they know that women are the most potential customer and most people who are willing to spend money in the fashion. Miki Kids take the message of fun in fashion to every place and occasion. Clothes design with energetic ideas and cheerful colours to charge up every youngster. Miki kids are designed for 1-11 years old infants. This is because infants still have their potential and parents are increasingly willing to spend money on their childs dress. Miki Maternity is designed for fashionable mums-to-be. Miki Maternity has sold all the shirt and dress that suit for the pregnant women at the same time stand out-style. The look of Vincci fun and fashionable, the emphasis is affordable. From head turning hair accessories to trendsetting footwear, must-have handbags to eye catching glasses and fashion-clinching belts. In addition to Vincci accessories carries one of the most extensive lines of accessories from necklaces, bangles, rings and earrings to belts, sunglasses, watches, shoes, bags and more in all the latest styles. Price Pricing are one of the most important elements of the marketing mix, as it is the only mix, which generates a turnover for the organization. Pricing is difficult and must reflect  supply and demand  relationship. Pricing for a product too high or too low could mean a loss of sales for the organization.   Designed of Seed and PADINI are more classic. Our company carries out market-skimming pricing and setting a high price for Seed and PADINI to skim revenues layer-by-layer from those willing to pay the high price. Both of these brands are premium pricing and especially for relatively high consumption of the customer base. High consumption of the customers base is those who purchase a bundle items in one time. Production of seed and PADINI are much more less than other brand this is because high consumption of the customer base would be lesser. Our company makes fewer, but more profitable sales. In addition to this, PDI and PADINI authentic and Vincci are much more affordable. Our company carries out maket-penetration pricing setting low initial price for PDI, PADINI authenthic and Vinnci to penetrate the maket deeply. Both of these brands are low cost pricing and more focus on the middle class of customer base. Product price of these two brands are low and affordable. This is because there are more middle class of customer base compare to high consumption of customer base. PDI and PADINI authentic are attracting many customers due to the low price strategy and also our company can win a large market share. Apart from this,the two brands under the MIKI flag are MIKI Kids and MIKI Maternity.Miki maternity is pay attention on the fashionable mums-to-be. This brand only focuses on the pregnant women and mums-to-be customers base and Miki kids is focus on the children customers base. Product price of this brand is quiet high and is consider as premium pricing. This is due to their customers base not wide enough Promotion do PADINI Holdings Berhad company has different promotion in every seasons . They have different seasons in every years . That is spring ,summer ,fall and holiday . Those products have expensive price will have whole year discount . On the other hand , those products have cheap price only will get discount during season period . PADINI AUTHENTICS promotion will get instant rebate RM30 with purchases of RM150 and RM70 with purchases of RM 300 . PDI Promotion will get rebate RM15 with every purchase of RM 100 . Followed by, VINCCI ACCESSORIES will get instant rebate RM10 with purchase of RM50 above RM20 with purchase of RM100 above . VINCCI Promotion will get instant rebate RM10 with purchases of RM50 above , RM20 with purchases of RM100 above. SEED Promotion will get rebate RM30 with every purchase of RM 150. PCO Promotion will rebate rm20 with every purchase of rm100 . PADINI Promotion will get rebate RM30 with every purchase of 2pcs . In addition , PADINI GROUP FAIR which known as Mega Carnival Sales will up to 70% discount .This sales will fall on March , August , December every year .Specific terms and condition will be applied on it . During sales period, customers cannot apply for member card . Member card only can apply when no sales proceed. When nearly reach end of sales, PADINI Company will have actual 10 % will add 10 % more discount on it . This is because PADINI company want clear the stock, and they want to push the sales. A companys total promotion mix is also called marketing communications mix . It consists advertising , sales promotion , public relations , personal selling , and direct-marketing tools that the company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships . One of the hardest marketing decisions facing a company is how much to spend on promotion. How does a company decide on its promotion budge? There are four common methods used to set the total budget for advertising. There are the affordable method, the percentage of sales method, the competitive parity method and the objective and task method . Affordable method is to set the promotion budget at the level management thinks the company can afford. Followed by , percentage of sales method is set the promotion budget at a certain percentage of current or forecasted sales or as a percentage of the unit sales price . Competitive parity method is set the promotion budget to match competitors outlay . Placement do Concept Store brings the all in one concept. So that, customers will be convenient to shop at there. Variety of modern style can be chosen by customers. All they need are inside one shop. Most of the brands outlet will located at the shopping mall instead of hypermarket. Because of the design of shopping mall more attractive. So that can attract more customers. PADINI is one of the most well-known brands in Malaysias multibillion garment industry. A brand leader involved in the distribution and retails its own fashion labels through 180 freestanding stores and in-house outlets. This includes our multi-brand stores of PADINI Concept Store and Brands Outlet. PADINI have many branches in Malaysia. In Malaysia, it divided into two parts. That is west and east. Shopping mall will be chosen as the location where the PADINI Concept store at. This is because shopping mall has more people. For example, Queensbay Mall, Gurney Plaza .It will choose only mall which is more trendy for that city . PADINI has two types of shops. It has brands outlet and PADINI concepts store. The purpose of having PADINI concepts shops is because of the concept one-stop-shopping. With all brands within reach in just one store, the shopping option is set to create a fashion revolution. In addition, certain brands specialize in items such as Graphic Tees, Polo-Tees and Pants. With such a wide variety of styles and labels, Concept Store not only caters to everyone irrespective of age, gender or taste, it also allows shoppers to mix and match effortlessly within one location ,maybe by matching with different brands merchandise to fulfill own required style. The brands are PADINI, Seed, Vincci, PDI, PADINI Authentics, P Co, Miki Kids Miki Maternity. Whereas , brands outlet is the latest exciting concept from PADINI group . Already a fashion force in Malaysia with brands such as PADINI, Seed,PDI, Vincci and PCo., the group decided to introduce a shopping experience with a difference based on key id eas of convenience, quality, variety and affordability. Concept Store can be found at Aeon Bukit Tinggi (Klang), Ampang Point (Kuala Lumpur), IOI Mall (Puchong), Ikano Power Centre (Mutiara Damansara; flagship store), Aeon Bukit Indah (Johor Bahru), Dataran Pahlawan Mall (Melaka), East Coast Mall (Kuantan) and Queensbay Mall (Penang). Recommendation After the overall marketing research regarding this company, we would make some recommendation about the product, market development, marketing technique, public promotion and sales rules and regulation. Talking about the product, PADINI has never come out with unisex merchandise, as our experience as promoter in this company, we always get this question from customer .Also, we would suggest PADINI may make some couple design since the company is already well-established, these two product may probably open a new market to new young generation as their target, the company may choose the A outlet to do market testing by coming out limited quantity. While for marketing technique, we can see PADINI has not yet to explore in the online buying. We suggest PADINI can set up a blog which contain all brands product. Before that, perhaps the company must set up an IT department to do IT support for future transaction and create a IT system to company. They may co-operate with some banks to offer discount by using online banking service. On the other hands, PADINI can also cooperate with some local distributors in the Malaysia like Citi-link or Sky Net to send out the order. Every transaction made by the customer will be shown a payment statement and it was guaranteed by the bank. Besides, the distribution of the order will directly send to the stated address according to the information stated on the order form by the customer. Then, since PADINI is already well-known in fashion industry, we believe they are able to do a fashion show by hiring professional model, wearing their new products and having a fashion show .The company may invite some fashion professional ,helping to to advertising and promote their company. Besides, the company can organize a model show or competition by wearing their new products in specific mall like Gurney or Mid Valley, this will cost lesser. Furthermore, PADINI can sponsor to some well-known ladies magazine with conditions that include few pages which advertising about PADINI new products in every publication of magazine, for example Vogue and Nirvana Women. Historical Net Profit of PADINI From Year 2004- 2010 The histogram above showed that the net profit of PADINI from the year 2004- 2010. We can see that, the net profit of PADINI is dramatically increase from 2004- 2010 with the percentage of 1% to 12.2%. Besides, PADINI state that they forecast an average annual net profit growth of 10% in year 2011 and 2012 because of the demand for the PADINI products due to their strong branding and strategic store locations, as well as improved efficiency of warehousing, inventory management, design and product mix. Stock Split Besides, PADINI also carry out the stock split program to make its stock price cheaper than before in 5 times at 6 January 2011, being the market day after the books closing date. Share split involving the subdivision of each ordinary share of RM0.50 each held in PADINI Holdings Berhad into five ordinary shares of RM0.10 each. This action is to attract more investor to invest into their company. PADINI HOLDINGS BERHAD (History earnings, dividends and share price)

American Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century: Consensus and Legitimac

American Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century: Consensus and Legitimacy Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been the world’s only unquestioned superpower. How the United States evaluates its position as global hegemon has important consequences for American foreign policy, particularly with regards to the potential for future policy constraints. Thus, this paper seeks to consider the question: How durable is American hegemony? The paper first defines the state of American hegemony and then considers the primary challengers: Europe, Russia, China, Japan and imperial overstretch. It will conclude that in the long-term, East Asian geopolitical instability poses the greatest threat to American hegemony, but that in the short-term, the hegemony will prove to be quite durable as long as the United States can counteract the phenomenon of imperial overstretch. In order to diffuse both internal and international threats to hegemony, American leaders should work to pursue national interests within a framework of consensus an d legitimacy as much as possible. American Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century: Preserving the Status Quo by Fostering Consensus I. Introduction: Why Hegemony Matters The Soviet Union’s collapse at the end of the Cold War left the United States without its major global rival. Now alone at the top, the United States’ strategic imperatives have shifted remarkably. The shift has been significant enough to prompt fundamental questions about the international order and whether this new â€Å"unipolar moment† will last. Indeed, since 1989, political scientists have clamored to define the United States’ status relative to the rest of the world. Indispensable nation? Sole super... ...002. Mastanduno, Michael and Ethan B. Kaplan. â€Å"Realism and State Strategies after the Cold War.† Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies after the Cold War. Eds. Ethan B. Kapstein and Michael Mastanduno. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. 1-27. Nye, Jr., Joseph S. The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Rielly, Dr. John. â€Å"The Future of American Hegemony,† Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 29 November 2004. Sicherman, Harvey. â€Å"A Cautionary Tale: The U.S. and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.† In Eagle Rules? Foreign Policy and American Primacy in the Twenty-First Century. Ed. Robert J. Lieber. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 152-172. Wohlforth, William C. â€Å"The Stability of a Unipolar World.† International Security, 24.1 (Summer 1999), pp. 5-41.

Research Methodology Essay

â€Å"The study of man contains a greater variety of intellectual styles than any other area of cultural endeavor. How different social scientists go about their work, and what they aim t accomplish by it, often do not seem to have a common denominator †¦ Let us admit the case of our critics from the humanities and from the experimental sciences: Social science as a whole is both intellectually and morally confused. And what is called sociology is very much in the middle of this confusion. † Wright Mills Images of Man Abstract The quest for knowledge has always been at the forefront of societies mind. What makes us tick as a society or an individual, what circumstances have to come about to lead to different phenomena to occur? Sociologists, psychologists, philosophers and social scientists have spent eons of time pondering on these questions. Research is the way in which these questions may be answered, but the question remains, as to what type of research leads us to the right answer or, if there is a right answer, what is the one true answer? If different research methods produce different answers, which is the right, the true answer and if we find it does this render all the other answers null or wrong? These are some of the questions that I will be asking in this paper through examining concepts such as the symbolic order in research, the role of emotions in research, the grouping together of different methodologies to create a clearer picture of the research and the importance of reflexivity during the research process. Keywords; emotions, symbolic order, reflexivity. The word research originates from the late 16th century French word recerche, re (expressing intensive force) and cherchier to search. It means the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. In this essay I will be focusing on qualitive research methods, examining some of the problems that may be encountered when conducting social research and how these problems may be overcome and used to advantage. Qualitative research takes an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter; qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings that people bring to them. This process begins by understanding that there are a variety of ways of making sense of the world and therefore focuses on discovering the meanings that are seen by those who are being researched, to better understand their view of the world. The methodology used in research will vary in accordance with the research being conducted, this can be limiting if a type of methodology is decided on and rigidly adhered to throughout the research leaving no room for reconsideration or change of view. Different Methodological Approaches. The manner in which sociologists study society varies greatly between individual sociologists. There are many reasons for these varying views such as backgrounds, culture, family influences, religion and experiences with these experiences leading them to come to certain conclusions about certain situations. For this reason it is important not to rely on one type of sociological perspective which may constrict the researcher in the researching of certain phenomena. In research however objectively the reality of the social world was approached, its meaning was never self evident but always subject to interpretation with this interpretation being subject to the researchers biases formed out of the afore mentioned factors. Some of the different methods of researching or research style are Positivism which means scientific; positivists would argue that it is possible and desirable to study social behavior in ways similar to those used by natural scientists when studying the natural world. The interpretive approach to research has been gaining attention in recent years as an alternative to the more traditional positivist approach (Lee 342). Lee describes the interpretive approach as â€Å"such procedures as those associated with ethnography, hermeneutics, phenomenology and case studies. By the positivist he refers to inferential statistics, hypothesis testing, mathematical analysis and experimental and quasi experimental design. Ethnography (Greek ethnos = folk/people and graphein = writing) is a qualitative research method often used in the social sciences, particularly in anthropology and in sociology. It is often employed for gathering empirical data on human societies/cultures. Data collection is often done through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, etc. Ethnography aims to describe the nature of those who are studied (i. e. to describe a people, an ethnos) through writing. In the biological sciences, this type of study might be called a â€Å"field study† or a â€Å"case report,† both of which are used as common synonyms for â€Å"ethnography. Lee states that the difference between positivist and interpretive approaches has been described as objective versus subjective (Burrell and Morgan 1979), outsider versus insider (Evered and Louis 1981), quantitive versus qualitive (Van Mannen 1979) and etic versus emic (Morey and Luthans 1984). In literature it may seem that these 2 methods of research are opposed and irreconcilable and there is some concern over what Morey and Luthans call the â€Å"widening gap between the two major orientations to organizational research† (1984, 84). Lee puts forward the idea of joining the two methodologies together as he argues that they both have something to offer the researcher. He devised a framework called three levels of understanding. [pic] The first level belongs to the observed human subjects, this consists of common sense and meanings which are true for these subjects and how they see themselves, which give rise to the behavior that they manifest in socially constructed settings. The second belongs to the observing organizational researcher. This understanding according to Lee is the researchers reading and interpretation of the first level, common sense understanding where the researcher may use concepts such as subjective interpretation, the hermeneutical circle or thick description. The third level of understanding also belongs to the researcher. This understanding is one that the researcher creates and tests in order to explain the empirical reality that he is investigating. This explanation is called scientific theory is made up of constructs that belong only to the observing researcher. This explanation consists of formal positions that typically posit the existence of unobservable entities such as social structure, issues that may attempt to account for the influence of certain factors of which the observed subjects may not even be aware. The above diagram shoes the flow of ideas and understanding between the three levels of understanding and the relevance of the two methods of research in question. This illustrated the importance of varying the methods of research used, to create a legitimate piece of research work it is vital to come at the work from different angles rather than taking a blinkered approach. This is vital all there can be no definite knowledge in research as there are so many variables and researchers take the research on for so many different reasons with so many different worldviews. Identifying applicable research strategies is almost as difficult as methodologies tend to differ according to the various factors found within the desired outcome. Yet methods cannot be orchestrated to generate this outcome from the data, but merely facilitate its collection and synthesis. Any successful research methodology does not, therefore, create knowledge, but rather is an applicable strategy for identifying and processing the information which exists. Hathaway (1995) stresses that there are decisions embedded within the creation and conduct of research methodologies that are generated both within the research setting and within the perceptions of the researcher. The concept of an unbiased methodology is thus inherently impossible: Are we creatures of reason and logic? Or are we better characterized as the victims of unconscious drives, forces and emotions? Does the different language we use really make such a difference in what we have to say? Are we saying something better and more academic if it is considered almost too technical for the reader to understand? Are texts considered more valid if they are difficult to understand and read? Are these technical essays and writings elitist, written by elitist academics just to be appreciated by like minded and like educated individuals? Why publish research ideas that are inaccessible to society? All researchers come to the experimentation process with preconceived opinions of how and why the research process should transpire. â€Å"When one chooses a particular research approach, one makes certain assumptions concerning knowledge, reality, and the researcher's role. These assumptions shape the research Endeavour, from the methodology employed to the type of questions asked. † (Hathaway 1995). So how do we carry out the most informed research possible? It is important not to take a ‘sat nav’ approach to the research, asking a question that you already know the answer to and not be prepared to change course along the way, the research process is the information that the researcher finds along the pathway to the research, the phenomena the researcher encounters along the pathway is as relevant as the final conclusion and it is vital to include this in the research process. If the research question is not working is it preferable to change the question or come at the research from a different angle rather than trying to fit your research question into every area of the study? Reynolds argues that the methodologist turns research technician, in spite of himself, and becomes an aimless itinerant, moving in whatever direction his research techniques summon him, studying changing patterns of voting because these are readily accessible to his techniques rather than the workings of political institutions and organizations for which he has not evolved satisfying techniques of investigation. Reynolds 190). In my own research on texting differences between adults and teens I will be using field work which will consist of focus groups with informal questioning and conversation, individual interviews and data analysis in the form of analyzing a number of text interactions in both focus groups. Bourdieu and the Importance of Reflexivity in Social Research. Is knowl edge independent of the situation of the knower, or a product of it? Bourdieu stresses the importance in reflexivity while conducting social research. The sociologist must at all times be aware of their own habitus, their position of thought and in life and how bringing this to research will affect the research outcome. According to Bourdieu it is impossible for our objectivity to remain unbiased and unprejudiced due to our preconceived habitus. It is only by maintaining such a continual vigilance that the sociologists can spot themselves in the act of importing their own biases into their work. Reflexivity is, therefore, a kind of additional stage in the scientific epistemology. If there is a single feature that makes Bourdieu stand out in the landscape of contemporary social theory’, wrote Loic J. D. Wacquant (1992: 36), ‘it is his signature obsession with reflexivity. ’ For Bourdieu, reflexivity is an epistemological principle which advises sociologists, as ‘objectifying subjects’, to turn their objectifying gaze upon themselves and become aware of the hidden assumptions that structure their research. Without this reflexive move, sociology cannot escape the ‘fallacies of scholasticism’ and loses its chances to provide a truly scientific analysis of the social world. Reflexivity requires an awareness of the researcher's contribution to the construction of meanings throughout the research process, and an acknowledgment of the impossibility of remaining ‘outside of' one's subject matter while conducting research. Reflexivity then, urges us â€Å"to explore the ways in which a researcher's involvement with a particular study influences, acts upon and informs such research. † (Nightingale and Cromby, 1999, p. 228). In the rush of interest in qualitative research in the past 15 years, few topics have developed as broad a consensus as the relevance of analytic â€Å"reflexivity. † (Macbeth 2001). Macbeth argues that contemporary expressions of reflexivity have attachments to critical theory, standpoint theory, textual deconstruction and sociologies and anthropologies of knowledge and power and agency with theorists such as Bourdieu and Wacquant at the forefront of this type of thinking. Bourdieu has problematised social research in relation to his concept of habitus stating that the researcher must at all times be aware of his habitus,(prevailing and long learned personal norms and biases, formed over a lifetime) and take steps to acknowledge this habitus by looking back on himself and his research with a critical eye. The postmodern condition is such that there are no certainties in social research as norms and values become intertwined, identities and culture intermingle and clash as do gender and sexualities, power is gained and lost through means of popularity alone and social researchers can only strive to explore every avenue of their research subject reflexively in the quest for knowledge and answers. In research this reflexivity can be put into two categories, personal reflexivity, which involves the researcher acknowledging their own habitus and how this is affecting their research and in turn affecting the researcher carrying out the research. The second is epistemological reflexivity which requires us to ask questions of the research such as: â€Å"How has the research question defined and limited what can be ‘found? ‘ How have the design of the study and the method of analysis ‘constructed' the data and the findings? How could the research question have been investigated differently? To what extent would this have given rise to a different understanding of the phenomenon under investigation? Thus, epistemological reflexivity encourages us to reflect upon the assumptions (about the world, about knowledge) that we have made in the course of the research, and it helps us to think about the implications of such assumptions for the research and its findings. † (Willig, 2001). The Use of Emotion in Social Research. Williams and Bendelow (1996), map the field of sociology of emotions onto the concerns of sociology: â€Å"emotions have fundamental implications for a range of pertinent sociological themes and issues including social action, agency and identity; social structure; gender, sexuality and intimacy; the embodiment of emotions across the life-course (from childhood to old age); health and illness; and the social organization of emotions in the workplace (formal and informal). Emotions play an important part in the field at a number of levels. It is important to realize that the researcher's identity and experiences shape the ideas with which they go into the field, their political and ideological stance, and there is an analytic cost if this interplay of person and research is not taken into consideration. The researcher takes assumptions and emotions into and generates emotions in the field about the researched. Kleinman and Copp (1993) suggest that if a researcher experiences negative emotions about their participants they would prefer to ignore, or repress those feelings, since to admit them might constitute a threat to their professional and personal identity. But these can be the very feelings (anger and disappointment perhaps) that could help the researcher to understand their own assumptions and their participants. It is clear to me that emotions are very important in fieldwork, both those of the participants and of the researchers. The researcher's emotions can have effects at the personal and professional levels, in relation to their understanding of their self and identity, and their capacity to perform in a fashion that they would themselves regard as professional, and these effects can be long term. A considerable amount of emotion work is called for in qualitative research, and often the dangers consequent on this are not recognized. In some instances researchers have been made quite ill (physically or emotionally) through their experiences of denying, ignoring or managing emotions. The emotions experienced by respondents in the field are data and need to be drawn into analysis and interpretation. It has been suggested here that emotions are important in the production of knowledge from a number of perspectives. In most cases, despite some unpleasant experiences, researchers value the extra power in understanding, analysis and interpretation that the emotions they experience in the field can bring to the research. In his article Hidden Ethnography: Crossing emotional Borders in Qualitive Accounts of Young People’s Lives. Shane Blackman concludes that different ethnographic episodes show how powerful feelings of emotions from love to hate grip both the researcher and the researched. He states that his fieldwork consisted of constant negotiation and respect with participants who allowed him access to their public and private spaces. He advises that to advance more open, reflexive approaches that explain how research is conducted and written, sociology needs greater disciplinary understanding and recognition of the real challenges and opportunities faced by qualitive research, which demands emotion. The Symbolic Order in Social Research. â€Å"The â€Å"Symbolic Order† achieved its currency in Anglo-Saxon human sciences by way of Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory but originated in Claude Levi-Strauss’s Les structures elementaires de la parente (1949) [translated into English as Elementary Structures of Kinship, 1969] which used the term to group the many different codes which constitute human societies—from social identities and kinship relations to cooking and feasting rituals and religious observances—in short all cultural practices and inscriptions, whatever their language. Levi-Strauss showed that patterns we can observe in one level are invariably linked to and determined by similar patterns in other levels†. (Clark 2004) How important is the symbolic order in social research? There are many factors to take into account when discussing the symbolic order in relation to research. Gusfield and Michalowicz argue that in recent years, sociologists and anthropologists have conducted â€Å"significant studies of modern life using concepts and perspectives derived from symbolic anthropology. Among anthropologists words like ritual, myth, ceremony and symbolism are central to the study of social life in primitive societies. In contemporary society they have been peripheral terms and the activities they denote have not usually been studied in modern societies. † (Gusfield and Michalowicz 1984). The symbolic is of huge importance in social research and cannot be separated from it. When researching we must ask, what is happening here? Recognizing the potentially multiple responses to this question illuminates the way in which meaning is mediated by cultural categories and structures of thought. This awareness of the social construction of reality, which Richard Brown calls symbolic realism (Brown 1977), implies that any segment of human, social activity can be experienced in different and in multiple ways by diverse actors and observers. David Blacker in his thesis argues that for Gadamer, all understanding — whether of a text or of another person — is interpretive. This means is that, whatever else it is and does, understanding moves in what Heidegger called a â€Å"hermeneutic circle. † This circle is productive of meaning. To generate meaning from a text, for example, one must always move around from whole to part and back again. The â€Å"whole† may be the language in which the text was written, the literary tradition to which it belongs, its historical period, the life circumstances of its author, and so on. This â€Å"whole,† then, provides the backdrop against which one gives significance to the â€Å"part,† e. g. , the particular words comprising the text, the individual work in question or the specific period of the author’s life. A helpful analogy is with understanding an ambiguous word within a sentence. If the meaning of the word itself is not immediately obvious, one must find it in its larger context. The newly appreciated meaning of the part (the word) then alters to a degree the meaning of the whole (the sentence). One never escapes â€Å"outside† this whole-part circuit — even the dictionary only relates words to other words. In my own research on ‘the difference in meaning of texting between teens and adults’ the symbolic order plays a large part. The mobile phone will mean different things to these two groups and these issues must be taken into account when formulating the research. Mobile telephone has been widely adopted by many people in society. As it integrates into daily life, it alters the way people communicate, identify their personalities and relate to others in social system. It affects socio-economic structures as well as individual life. Mobile telephone enables accessibility, emancipation, security and micro-coordination and serves as a symbol of prestige, pride and self-identity. The aim of this study is to explore the symbolic factors influencing the use of mobile telephone among teens and dults where in the case of adults the phone may be vital for communication; the teen may find it impossible to function socially without the use of the phone and the texting facility. Conclusion There is no way of determining a sure path for arriving at sociological knowledge; there is unlikely to be, just over the horizon, a new approach, paradigm or perspective to rescue us from the intellectual difficulties involved in a sociological theorizing which can giv e us a better understanding of our social world. Reynolds 339) As researchers we must be aware of our limitations in the social world in so much that we cannot really promise to theorize in a way that explains everything. This is not possible in life as there are too many different collective and individual ideas that are thousands of years in formation. In social research these variables and ideas must be acknowledged and given importance within the research area and with their relevance acknowledged the researcher may move on to the findings of her own particular studies. Karl Mannheim answers critics in letter to the members of a seminar on the sociology of knowledge, by stating that â€Å"if there are contradictions and inconsistencies in my paper this is, I think, not so much due to the fact that I have over looked them but because I make a point of developing a theme to its end even if it contradicts some other statements. I use this method because I think that in this marginal field of human knowledge we should not conceal the inconsistencies, so to speak covering up the wounds, but our duty is to show the sore spots in human thinking at its present stage. In a simple empirical investigation or straightforward logical argument, contradictions are mistakes; but when the task is to show that our whole thought system in its various parts leads to inconsistencies, these inconsistencies are the thorn in the flesh from which we have to start. The inconsistencies in our whole outlook, which in my presentation only become more visible, are due to the fact that we have two approaches which move on a different plane. (Mannheim in Reynolds 1970) David Hume held that we can never be absolutely sure that what we know is true. (Bernard 2006). He argues that we come to understand what is true from what we are exposed to. This reiterates the fact that research is personal even when we try our best to avoid this being the case. We can never be sure according to Hume what we know is true, Humes brand of skepticism is a fundamental principle of social science according to Bernard, â€Å"the scientific method, as it is understood today, involves making improvements in what we know, edging towards the truth, but never quiet getting there and always being ready to have yesterday’s truths overturned by today’s empirical findings.. † (Bernard). In the social sciences we can see sociologists, philosophers and social psychologists such as Michael Foucault, Fredriech Nietzsche, Pierrie Bourdieu and others changing their views on subjects and seemingly contradicting themselves but I would consider that this is paramount when conducting any type of research, as society evolves, technology changes and people become more individualized the world is changing rapidly so we as researchers must be open to change and not be afraid to re-examine our research and research motives to ensure that we are generating the most informed and comprehensible research possible. In the case of Foucault , Tom Keenan argues that â€Å"these contradictions and paradoxes do serve a very important strategic purpose since they allow to articulate a critique of the juridical discourse on a theoretical level. Foucault’s work produces paradoxa since it struggles against doxa, it seeks to place in question orthodoxies of political thought and leftist critique. It is contradictory since it contradicts dominant forms of critique that itself functions as a constraint for imagining political alternatives (Keenan 1987)†. Bibliography Blacker, D. (1993). Article on Education as the Normative Dimension of Philosophical Hermeneutics. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA. Bourdieu, P & Wacquant (1992). An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Burrell, G. , & Morgan, G. Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis, Heinemann, 1979 Cuff. E. C, Sharrock. W. W, Francis. D. W (1998) Perspectives in Sociology. Fourth Edition. Routledge, London. Clark, R. (2004) â€Å"The Symbolic Order†. The Literary Encyclopedia. March 2004. Evered, R. , Louis, M. R. (1991), â€Å"Research perspectives†, in Craig Smith, N. , Dainty, P. (Eds),The Management Research Book, Routledge, London Gusfield. J & Michalowicz. J (1984). Secular Symbolism: Studies of Ritual, Ceremony and the Symbolic Order in Modern Life. Annual Reviews Inc 1084 Holland, J (2007) International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Volume 10 Issue 3. July 2007. Keenan, T, (1987) The ‘P aradox’ of Knowledge and Power: Reading Foucault on a bias, in: Political Theory, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1987. Kleinman, S. & Copp, M. A. (1993) Emotions and fieldwork. Sage, Newbury Park, CA Macbeth, D. (2001). On â€Å"reflexivity† in qualitative research: Two readings, and a third. Qualitative Inquiry. Morey, N. , and Luthans, F. (1984) â€Å"An Emic Perspective and Ethno Science Methods for Organizational Research,† Academy of Management Review (9:1), 1984. Nightingale, D. & Cromby, J. (Eds) (1999). Social constructionist psychology: A critical analysis of theory and practice. Buckingham: Open University Press. Reynolds, L & J (1970). The Sociology of Sociology. Analysis and Criticisim of the Thought, Research and Ethical Folkways of Sociology and its Practitioners. David McKay Company INC, New York. Van Maanen, J, (1979). â€Å"Reclaiming Qualitative Methods for Organizational Research: A Preface,† Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 24 Williams, S. J. & Bendelow, G. A. (1996b) Emotions and ‘sociological imperialism': A rejoinder to Craib. Willig. C, (2001) Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology (p. 10).

College Students Essay

The number of international students enrolled in U. S. institutions has grown by 23 percent in the last five years. This is because the international community recognizes education in the U. S. All credit is given to University administrators who make sure that the courses students take are rigorous and prepares them for the real world ahead of them. The only problem is that Universities make students take some courses that are irrelevant to their major, thereby wasting precious time and money. Engineering is one of the most popular majors offered in United States’ Universities. It is a gateway to job opportunities but most Universities waste student’s time by forcing them to take classes that are not engineering related during their first two years of college. In most Universities, students majoring in Engineering have to take classes like fine art, government, history etc. Instead of giving these students specific courses that would prepare them for the rigorous work of engineering and reduce the time they would spend in school, Universities rather choose to introduce them to broader aspect of college, forcing them to take classes they do not need and increasing the time, they spend in college. Higher Institutions increase the time and courses college students have to take, because the more classes they take the more money the University pockets. They use this method to rip students off, thereby making college expenses ridiculously high and almost unpayable for some students. Education is not supposed to be costly, but student’s bank accounts are constantly punished by greed and bad decision making by University officials. This is why most American students abstain from furthering their educations in higher institutions after high school. The cost scares some of them, and they do not see the need to spend all their money on education. Universities should not scare Americans away from Higher Institutions by making them take classes that would dry up their bank accounts and waste their time. Instead they should give them the privilege of going to intern after high school and come back to take only the courses they need for their major. This saves students valuable time, money, and at the same time makes college more attractive to those Americans who have shunned Higher education because of the cost. When students are given the opportunity of interning before they choose their path in life, they not only get an idea of what they will wake up to every morning, but they also gain experience. This makes the courses and classes they would take later on a lot easier and understandable to them. The experience they gain from interning gives them a sense of direction on whether to continue in that career or if they should do something more profiting and interesting to them. . In order for us to get more Americans into college and reduce the competition coming from the international community, higher institutions need to make college more affordable and more meaningful for students. To make Universities affordable, students should be allowed to do all those classes that are required but relevant to a student’s major in high school. After graduation, students should have the opportunity of choosing between being an intern in their desired field for a year, before registering for that major, or going the normal route of wasting time taking classes they do not need.