International Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Strategic Management - Essay Example So, it is evident that for an organization to become sustainable it has to optimally care for people as well as the planet and this brings into the picture the concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL). This concept is also known as the ‘people-planet-profit’ approach because as the name suggests, organization must have three different bottom lines of people, planet, and profit to function effectively and achieve success. However, this concept might not be applicable to the organizations during certain situations, necessitating corrective strategies. So, this concept of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) will be evaluated here firstly focusing on how it is indeed useful for businesses and then discussing the difficulties of measuring the social and environmental contributions that a business makes and how these difficulties can be managed. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) was originally an accounting framework which focused mainly on profits, return on investment, and shareholder value. However, it was John Elkington who reoriented this concept to include environmental as well as social dimensions in 1980s. He further strengthened this reorientation by coining the phrase â€Å"people, planet, profit† in 1994. Elkington (2004, p.3) has defined TBL as the concept that â€Å"focuses corporations not just on the economic value they add, but also on the environmental and social value they add (or destroy)†. Elkington brings in broader perspectives by referring TBL to all the processes, issues, and values that organizations have to manage in order to eliminate or minimize their negative impacts on the social and environmental aspects. â€Å"This involves being clear about the company’s purpose and taking into consideration the needs of all the company’s stakeholders—shareholders, customers, emplo yees, business partners, governments, local communities and the public† (Elkington 2004, p.3). Chapman & Milne (2004)

Acid Rain Essay Example for Free

Acid Rain Essay Acid Rain is rain, snow or fog that is polluted by acid in the atmosphere and damages the environment. When fossil fuels are burned they release mostly CO2, but they also release two harmful gases, sulphur dioxide and various nitrogen oxides. The sulphur dioxide, SO2, comes from the sulphur impurities in the fossil fuels. However, the nitrogen oxides are created from a reaction between the nitrogen and the oxygen in the air, caused by the heat of the burning. When these gases mix with clouds they form dilute sulphuric acid and dilute nitric acid. This then falls as acid rain. Cars and power stations are the main causes of Acid Rain. Acid Rain has effects on plants, soil and even buildings. The acid reacts with the limestone and then the limestone begins to erode. From previous knowledge, I know that limestone has the chemical formula CaCO3. Limestone, chalk and marble are all calcium carbonate. When an acid reacts with a metal carbonate (such as calcium carbonate) the fizzing shows that a gas is produced. That gas is carbon dioxide, CO2. Adding hydrochloric acid to a rock sample is one of the tests for a carbonate rock, like marble, chalk or limestone. It is also why these rocks are greatly affected by acid rain. The word equation is for this reaction between calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid is: Calcium carbonate + hydrochloric acid calcium chloride + carbon dioxide + water The chemical formulae for this reaction between calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid is: CaCO? + 2HCL CaCL2 + CO2 + H2O The rate of reaction can be calculated by measuring amount of Carbon dioxide gas that is obtained by the syringe. There were various types of apparatus which I included: Goggles Syringe Stop clock Measuring cylinder Spatula Hydrochloric Acid Marble-Powder and Chip Boiling tube Bung Preliminary experiment. Before actually beginning my investigation, I will firstly carry out a preliminary investigation. This will help me to see the improvements that I can make after the experiment. I will be able to see possible downfalls and failures in my method, work out appropriate quantities of chemicals to use and generally improve the quality of the final experiment. Below is the set up apparatus that I will use for the preliminary experiment and the actual experiment: The preliminary experiment is performed so that I can predict the volume of acid, the mass of the chip and powder and the length of time that I will be timing for. 1. Firstly, I set up the apparatus. 2. I will specify a curtain mass of marble using a balance and I will place it into the boiling tube. 3. Then, I will measure a quantity of acid and quickly add it to the boiling tube whilst after quickly placing the bung onto the top of the tube. 4. I will record the amount of CO2 gas which is given off, every curtain amount of time. This will produce a rate of reaction. For many experiments the rate of reaction can be changed by altering curtain variables. For this reaction there is no catalyst, therefore we cannot alter this variable. However there are three main variables that could be changed: Temperature of the acid this would be varied by starting off with the acid at room temperature (around 24i C) and then using acid with temperatures of 30i C, 40i C and 50i C. Concentration of the acid the concentration would be varied three times, using hydrochloric acid with concentrations of 0. 5M, 1M and 2M. Surface area of the calcium carbonate the surface area would be varied by using different sizes of calcium carbonate. I will predict that the 2m acid and the powder will be the fastest reaction as the acid is more compact with acid particles in the same volume of water. This helps more successful collisions take place between the particles. The more collisions there are the increased rate of reaction. I found out that I should use 1 gram of mass for the chip and powder marble and 30cmi of acid. This is because the reaction is not too fast or slow. I can get an acceptable number of results recorded. I will be using three different concentrations of acid, 0. 5m, 1m and 2m. (m=molar) The time I will be using will be starting at when the syringe starts to move up to 180 seconds. I will be keeping the amount of acid the same and the mass of the marble so that I conduct a fair test. The temperature was kept at 24i C-25i C. Results 0. 5m with chip 0. 5m with powder Mass of chip = 1. 0g Mass of powder = 1. 0g Time (s) Volume (cmi ) 10 2 20 4 30 5 40 6 50 7 60 8 70 9 80 16 90 17 100 18 110 20 120 21 130 22 140 24 150 25 160 26 170 27 180 31 Volume of acid = 30cmi Volume of acid = 30cmi Time (s) Volume (cmi ) 10 14 20 17 30 19 40 20 50 22 60 23 70 23 80 25 90 29 100 34 110 35 120 37 130 38 140 38 150 38 160 39 170 40 180 40 1 m with chip 1 m with powder Mass of chip = 1. 0g Mass of powder = 1. 0g Volume of acid = 30cmi Volume of acid = 30cmi Time (s) Volume (cmi ) 10 21 20 30 30 36 40 38 50 39 60 31 70 42 80 43 90 43 10 44 110 44 120 44 130 44 140 44 150 44 160 44 170 44 180 44 Time (s) Volume (cmi ) 10 4 20 5 30 6 40 9 50 12 60 15 70 18 80 21 90 24 10 27 110 31 120 34 130 37 140 40 150 44 160 47 170 50 180 52. 2 m with chip 2 m with powder Mass of chip = 1. 0g Mass of powder = 1. 0g Volume of acid = 30cmi Volume of acid = 30cmi Time (s) Volume (cmi ) 10 5 20 9 30 13 40 16 50 22 60 26 70 33 80 36 90 46 10 46 110 46 120 51 130 54 140 57 150 57 160 57 170 57 180 57 Time (s) Volume (cmi ) 10 0-60 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 Conclusion. After completing my experiment my results show me that as the concentration of the acid is increased, the reaction takes place faster and more gas is produced in a shorter space of time. Due to this I found that the 2M hydrochloric acid (the strongest concentration of acid I used) produced the most gas in the shortest time. The 0. 5M hydrochloric acid (the weakest concentration of acid I used) produced the least amount of gas in the longest time period. I can clearly see from the graph that the 2M hydrochloric acid gave the fastest reaction and produced the most gas in the shortest space of time, because the gradient of the curve is the steepest and goes far higher than the other curves showing that a larger amount of gas was produced because the gas produced axis is the y axis. The fact that the 2M acid had the steepest curve shows that the reaction was fastest because a large amount of gas was produced (high on the y axis) and in a short space of time (short on the x axis). This will give a steep gradient on the graph. The 0. 5M hydrochloric acid gave almost the opposite curve when the results were placed on a graph. Not much gas was produced in a long space of time and so the slope was very gentle and low on the graph. The 2M hydrochloric acid produced the most gas in the shortest amount of time and was generally a quicker reaction due to its significant difference in particle arrangement compared to the 0.5M and 1M hydrochloric acid. The more concentrated 2M hydrochloric acid has more acid particles in the same volume compared to the 1M and 0. 5M acid. This means there are more available acid particles to react with the calcium carbonate. The reaction will be quicker when using the 2M acid because there are more particles available to react with. The calcium carbonate particles can react with more acid particles quickly as they are easily accessible, whereas in the 0. 5M acid, there are few acid particles in a volume and so some calcium carbonate particles will have no acid particles to react with, causing the reaction to be slow and uneventful. All reactions will only occur if there is enough energy to make it happen. This minimum energy is known as activation energy. Activation energy is the minimum energy for which two reacting particles must collide for a reaction to take place. When particles collide they slow down, stop, and then fly apart again. This will occur regardless of whether they have enough energy to react. In an unsuccessful collision the particles separate unchanged, but in an effective collision the activation energy barrier is crossed and the particles that separate are chemically different from those that came together. I think my results are definitely sufficient to support my prediction. They equal everything I predicted and I am very pleased at how well they turned out. Evaluation I think that the experiment went very well. All my results matched my prediction and everything went according to plan. The gas produced by each acid had a steady increase however; there were a few rogue points. Overall I achieved what I set out to do. I would have liked more time on the experiment to make sure everything was perfect, though. Due to the short time limit we were quite rushed in completing the experiment. There were a few aspects of the experiment that could have been improved to make the experiment even more accurate. For a start the experiment was undertaken over a few days. Each day had a different temperature and so this would have affected the results. If one day had been hotter than the others the heat would have influenced one reaction to take place faster. Also due to the fact that the experiment lasted a few days, different equipment was being used each day. Some gas syringes were slightly stiffer than others and so wouldnt move out as fast. If on one day you had a very stiff gas syringe that wouldnt move very easily and on another day you had a very loose gas syringe, then the results would be very different as the loose gas syringe would give results that say that the reaction happened very fast and the stiff gas syringe would give results that say the reaction was slow. To prevent this from happening the experiment should have been undertaken and finished on the same day, using exactly the same equipment as you started with for each acid. The initial part of the reaction when the acid first reacts with the calcium carbonate is very fast. A lot of gas is produced at the beginning of the reaction. However the way the apparatus are set up means that when you pour the acid onto the calcium carbonate, there are a few seconds when the gas is able to escape before the gas syringe is connected to the test tube. To avoid this from happening a test tube containing the calcium carbonate should be placed inside a beaker containing the hydrochloric acid. They must not be touching, as the reaction would then start. Then the gas syringe will be connected to the beaker. When the reaction is ready to start, the beaker is knocked so that the test tube falls over, consequently causing the reaction to take place as the acid and carbonate would mix. Then when the initial gas is produced it will all be caught as the gas syringe is already in place. The surface area of the calcium carbonate should also have been kept equal. The same number of equally weighted chips should have been used. E. g. all 1g chips. This way the reaction is fair and accurate, as a large surface area will cause the reaction to take place faster. Keeping all the surface areas the same would have kept the experiment fair. However to do this would have taken a long time and we only had a limited amount of time. Another way of keeping the temperature the same would have been to do the experiment in a water bath. This would have allowed us to do the experiment over a few days as well.

The Relationship Between Political Democracy And Economic Growth Economics Essay

The Relationship Between Political Democracy And Economic Growth Economics Essay The relationship between political democracy and economic growth has been a center of debate in the past fifty years. A corpus of cross-country research has shown that the theoretical divide on the impact of democratic versus authoritarian regimes on growth is matched by ambiguous empirical results, resulting in a consensus of an inconclusive relationship. Through this paper challenges this consensus. In contrast to the current consensus, we show that once the microscope of analysis is applied to the accumulated evidence, it is possible to draw several firm and robust conclusions regarding democracy and economic growth. Supporter of democracy argue that the motivations of citizens to work and invest, the effective allocation of resources in the marketplace, and profit maximizing private activity can all be maintained in a climate of liberty, free-flowing information and secured control of property ( North, 1990). Democracies can limit state intervention in the economy, are responsive to publics demands on area such as education, justice and health, and encourage stable and long run growth (Rodrik, 1999, Lake and Baum 2001, Baum and Lake 2003). Opponents of democracy, on the other hand, argue that democracies lend themselves to popular demand for immediate consumption at the expense of profitable investments, cannot be insulated from the interest of rent-seekers, and cannot mobilize resource swiftly. Democracies are said also to be prone to conflicts due to social, ethnic and class struggles. While some authors favor authoritarian regime to suppress conflicts, resist sectional interests and take coer cive measures necessary for rapid growth, others remain overall skeptical on whether regimes, rather than markets and institutions, matter for growth (Bhagwati 1995). Actually, there are millions of journal articles on the internet regarding to the topic of democracy and economic growth, and in order to get those articles, Google scholars and others journal websites are used to download those to read. Moreover, I use the snowball technic to keep on trace of the best sources. For example, when I found the best source, I look at its references, and then I followed the old references or foot notes of each best source to get more best sources. Since some journals are not free for download, I somehow need to spend money on the journal website in order to get the sources. Moreover, in term of getting best sources from the Google or Google scholar, I typed the only the key words of the topic of research. For instance, instead of using economic growth, I can use economic development, or Gross nation products of each nation. What is more, in order to limit the number of sources on the net, I used the quotation mark, plus sign, or equal sing around the word finding. Importantly, even there are a lot of website that can provide the best convincing information regarding to the topic, I still looked and priority on the famous websites before selecting the sources. Meanwhile of the finding and selecting the best sources, I scanned all the sources to get the overall ideas-what those resources mean to the readers, and in specific skill of selecting the best sources, I just looked the abstract part, and jumped to the conclusion. By doing that, I can pretty sure that I can comprehend what the papers want to be told. Then, I look at those finding, methodologies, limitation, and discussion sections to analyze, find the strength and weakness, and to critic them in the right ways. Of course, even the general knowledge of the researchers seem to be so higher than me, and in order to critic them, I need to read what the fallacy of the research are. For example, some researchers might give their own judgments which cannot be applied in some extend, and some analyzed only in the present by ignoring the past. Beside this, in order to produce this paper, first of all, I need to do a lot of extensive reading on the found sources to select the best source. During the reading, I also quoted regarding to the theme which I was prepared on the time of literature reviewing. Once I had done all the reading, I started to type all the important information to each belonging theme or coding, then I read those information which came from many different scholars to get the common sense of idea on one particular point, so by doing it back and forth with a serious attention, Finally, I can produce this research paper which can summary all the main ideas of the existed sources. Therefore, this paper presents an analysis on the democracy-growth relationship, based on 10 published studies. It is an important step to addressing the deadlock on the democracy growth relationship. The literature need such as urgent comprehensive assessment on the issue in the wake of massive democratizations for many developing countries. Reviews of this literature and many authors who have contributed to it, state that the association is inconclusive. Faced with a diverse set of conflicting results, they are unable to conclude whether the association is positive, negative or non-existent. We find that once all the available evidence is considered, holding research design differences constant, the evidence does not point to democracy having a detrimental impact on growth. Moreover, this critic paper will be able to conclude that the effect is not inconclusive. There is, indeed, a zero direct effect of democracy on growth. Second, democracy has a significant positive indirect effe ct on growth through human capital accumulation. In addition, democracies are associated with lower inflation, reduced political instability and higher levels of economic freedom. However, there is some evidence that they are associated also with larger government and more restrictive international trade. Third, there are region-specific effects on the democracy-growth relationship. Particularly, the growth effects of democracy are higher in Latin America and Lower in Asia. This research paper also that much of the variation in results between studies does not reflect real underlying differences in the democracy-growth association Rather it is owing to either sampling error or the research design process. Raresh Kumar Narayan and Russell Smyth. Democracy and economic growth China: Evidence from counteraction and causality testing. Review of Applied economics, Vol. 2, No, 1, (2006): 81-89 To examine the relationship between the democracy and economic growth in the peoples Republic of China over the last three decades. Actually, China represents an interesting case in the debate over the relationship between the democracy and growth. This study was used the short and long run effect of democracy on the china within a production function framework by following the methods of error correction mechanism, and Granger Causality tests-testing between the labor and capital, and most studies by economist have tested for correlation between democracy and economic growth and have failed to adequately address the issue of causation, and using the Granger causality tests to explore the effects of shocks of democracy and economic growth beyond the sample period through the use of variance decomposit ion analysis and impulse response functions. While labor and capital can defined the core relationship between democracy and economic growth, real GDP and income of people are also the factors, and this study found out the democratization in China is impossible, and it can be true since the China never experience of being democracy. Moreover, economic growth of china is not because of democracy theories, but its own political culture, and its own indigenous development model. Meanwhile, real income and real GDP of each nations are also the factors for democracy growth too. Actually, according to Paresh Kumar Narayan, and Russell Smyth. (2007), who conducted the similar studies, examined the relationship between the democracy and economic growth in 30 Sub-Saharan African counties, supported the Lipset hypothesis. This study used the real GDP Granger to explore the cause of democracy and an increase in GDP results in an improvement in democracy. In the long run democracy Granger causes real income and an increase in democracy has a positive effect on real income, which is found for Bostwana with the freedome house data and for Madagascare, Rwanda, South Africa, and Swaziland. However, Hristos Doucouliagos and Mehment Ulubasoglu.( 2006). Democracy and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis. School Working paper-economic series 2006: Deakin University. This research paper is to explore the inconclusive relationship through a quantitative assessment of the democracy growth literature and use meta-regression as the methodology to analysis by collecting all the existed literature review to conclude the impact of democracy on economic. The strength point of this study was that this study concerned many variable at the same time. For example, it looked beyond the theories, the democracy in the past and the present, and so on. In addition, Elias Papaioannou and Gregorios Siourounis. (2004). Democratization and Growth. Job market paper: London business school. This research study challenges the empirical finding that democratic institution has direct effect on economic growth by using the before-after event study approach, and controlling the permanent democratization in the specific time. The strength of this study is that it study the long trend, omit the unrelevent variable, and observe the change from one time to other time of the variable affecting the democracy, but the weakness of this research article was that it didnt distinguish between different types of autocracy for example left or right wing dictatorship and democracy -presidential or parliamentary. Noam, L and Kanta, Murali. ( 2009). Does economic development explain democratic development?. Annual meeting at the Midwest political science association. This study explore the relationship between economic and democracy by using the modernization theories to analysis, and observing those change over time. The finding of this study seems to be able to apply for the new current democracy system, but it lacked of concerning about the democratization process in the past. This research study have found out the when there is economic growth, the democratization process will come as well, and according to my perspective, this assumption can be true since when one country has a high economic growth, that nation will prioritize on the domestic affair, freedom and the growth rate of the middle class. Moreover, the longer period of time, there will be positive effect of democracy, democratization growth, and economic development. Christian. H. ( 2010). Inequality, Economic development and democratization. University of Rochester. This research concerned about the inequality, income distribution of the economic sphere and took that variable to analyze the relationship between democracy and economic growth. However, this study focused on two theories-modernization and inequality theories, which was quite similar to Noam, L and Kanta, Murali. ( 2009). The strength assumption of this study was that when there is economic growth, autocracies more or less will change their political system as well in some extend, but this assumption also failed since some rich autocracies are not more likely to become democratic ( Przeworski and Limongi 1997; Prazewoki et al. 2000). Moreover, this study concluded that democracy inequality harms democratization. Of course, in the case of some nations, when there is class tension-between the level of middle class, there will be social clash, which lead to autocratic state more than d emocracy. What is more, this study fail to analyze other variable beside income inequality since economic crisis, the complexity of democracy system are also the cause of authoritarian shift. The availability of data and econometric techniques enables all the researchers to investigate these issues empirically. However, the empirical findings span a continuum of negative, insignificant and positive estimates, creating a conundrum. For instance, the distribution of results that we have compiled from 470 regression estimates from 10 democracy-growth studies shows that 16% of the estimates are negative and statistically significant, 20% of the estimates are negative and statistically insignificant, 38% of the estimate are positive and statistically insignificant, and 26% of the estimates are positive and statistically significant. This can be implied that three-quarters of the regressions have not been able to find the desired positive and significant sign. It also implies that around half of the regression models have found statistically significant estimates while the other half found statistically insignificant estimates. Such different results are not surprising because research question posed are narrow and approach the issue from different dimensions. For instance, while certain studies focus on the physical investment channel between democracy and growth, others look at the human capital or political instability channels. Likewise, certain studies present structural estimates of a well-defined model, whereas other focus on the empirical regularities in the data. Thus, the question is perplexed with a continuum of estimates, which differ due to data sources, estimate methodologies, sample composition, and time periods. The structure of this paper will be followed by the brief review of the key theoretical arguments behind a democracy-growth association, the effect of democracy on economic, the effect of economic on democracy, and conclusion of the research paper. Theoretical Arguments: Traditional perspective: Does political democracy cause the economic growth? To Hobbes (1651), absolutist regimes were more likely to improve public welfare simply because they could not promote their own interests otherwise. Similarly, Huntington (1968) also argues that democracies have weak and fragile political institutions and lend themselves to popular demands at the expense of profitable investments. Democratic governments are vulnerable to demands for redistribution to lower-income groups, and are surrounded by rent-seekers for directly unproductive profit-seeking activities (Krueger 1974, Bhagwati 1982). Non-democratic regimes can implement the hard economic policies necessary for growth, and suppress the growth-retarding demands of low-income earners and labor in general, as well as social instabilities because of ethnic, religious, and class struggles, and Democracies cannot suppress such conflicts. In term of economic progress, markets should come first and authoritarian regimes can more or less e asily facilitate such policies. Moreover, some level of development is a pre-requisite for democracy to function properly ( Lipsets 1959 hypothesis). In short, this view implies that political democracy is a best product that cannot be afforded by developing countries. Other proponents of the conflict view and stricter state command on the economy include Galenson (1959), Andreski (1968), Huntington and Dominguez (1975), Rao (19884-5) and Haggard (1990). The conflict view became more debatable after the growth success stories in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. The argument rest on several assumptions, the main one of which is that if given power, authoritarian regimes would behave in a growth-friendly manner. In that regard, server contrasting cases are provided where dictators pursued their own welfare and failed in Africa and the Socialist world ( de Haan and Sirermann 1995, Alesina et al. 1996). Proponents of democracy, on the other hand, argue that rulers are potential looters (Harrington 1656) and democratic institutions can act to constrain them. Most of the assumptions of the conflict view can be refuted with good reasons. Implementation of the rule of law, contract enforcement and protection property rights do not necessarily imply an authoritarian regime. In addition, Bhagwati (1995) argues that democracies rarely engage in military conflict with each other, and this promotes world peace and economic growth. They are also more likely to provide less volatile economic performance. Finally, de Haan and Siermann (1995) note that a strong state and an authoritarian state are not the same thing. However, markets can deliver growth under both democratic and authoritarian regimes. The modern perspective Actually, the political democracy-growth can be seen more precise and focused today. Theory has moved away from traditional conflict with compatibility arguments, because different aspects of the broader institutions-growth problem have been identified. For instance, many researchers have separated economic democracy from political democracy. Factors like protection of property rights, business, credit and labor market regulation, which were previously attributed to political democracy, are now being treated as part of economic democracy. Analysis of economic freedom indicators from the Fraser institute ( by Gwartney and Lawson 1996, 2000, 2003) and the heritage Foundation ( by ODriscoll et al. 2003) has shown that economic freedom, with also its other aspects, is equally relevant to growth. Recently, the world bank introduced the Doing Business aspect of institutions problem. In particular Djankov et al ( 2002a, 200b, 2005), Djankov, McLeish and Shleifer (2005), and Botero et al (2 004) benchmarked business regulations and quantified the easiness of private sectors activity in the economics based on labor hiring and firing practices; ease of starting, registering and closing business; protecting investors and enforcing contracts; and dealing with license and paying taxes. At this point one may feel that dissecting these aspect from political democracy reduce its scope to multi-party and free election only. Of course, political democracy is more than free and fair elections. First, empirical evidence shows that all the aspects of the institutions made precise above, i.e., economic democracy, governance and private sphere in the economy have high correlations with political democracy. In other words, the mere existence of participatory democracy implies the broader institutions conducive to growth. Secondly, various studies find that political democracy has enormous indirect effects on growth through human capital accumulation, income distribution, and political stability. In addition, Sturn and de Haan (2001) find that the presence of democracy in a country positively affects the level of economic freedom. Thus, on the question of political democracy and growth, one should remember the broader associations that encompass the channels, or the indirect effects, between democracy and growth rather than one to one causation from regime to growth. Thirdly, as Bhagwati( 1995) and Rodrik (2000) point out, democracies provide higher quality growth through various means. Rodirk puts it in the following way: participatory democracies enable a higher-quality growth by allowing greater predictability and stability in the long run, by being stronger against external shocks, and by delivering better distributional outcomes. Democratic institutions would help market function perfectly, as is assumed in neoclassical economic models. As an extension to such argument, the volatility channel has also been shown to be an important indirect effect of democracy on growth. Non democratic regimes are not a homogenous lot ( de Haan and Siermann, 1995, Alesina et al. 1996, Alesina and Perotti 1994), whereas democracies are more homogenous and can provide stable economic progress. Effect of democracy on Growth: Sirowy and Inkeless (1990) suggest that there are three major views on the effects of democracy on growth with their label the conflict, and the compatibility and the skeptical. The conflict thesis suggests that democracy and economic growth are incompatible because elected officals longing for popular approval make shortsighted decisions designed to maximize whose objective is to divert resources from productive activities in favor of immediate consumption. Related arguments are that democracy is less conducive to long term stability (world Bank, 1991, pp. 132-133) or long term development ( Barro, 1996) because of the tendency in majority voting systems to enact rich to poor redistribution of income including land reforms. On the other hand, the compatibility thesis proffers that democratic features such as political pluralism, institutional checks and balances and freedom of the press provide safeguards against system abuse or predatory behavior often associated with authoritarian regimes. Friedman (1962) was one of the first to suggest that economic and political freedoms are mutually reinforcing. He postulated that an expansion in political freedom fosters economic freedoms such as secure property rights and certainty of contract, which, in turn, underpin higher rates of economic growth. As Barro( 1996) argues, of course there is nothing in principle preventing non-democratic governments from promoting economic freedoms. Examples of autocracies which have increased economic freedom include the Pinochet regime in chile and the Fujimora government in Peru. The point, though, made by advocates of the compatibility thesis is democracy is more likely to be conducive to promoting economic freedoms than au thoritarianism because the political legitimacy and therefore long term survival of a democracy depends on maintaining economic rights. The third perspective, which is the skeptical view, suggests there is no systematic relationship between democracy and economic growth. While it might generally be true that there is more economic freedom under a democracy than an autocracy, there is no guarantee it will be at an optimum ( Esposto and Zaleski. 1999). Even in a democracy there will be those whose aims is to challenges the private property status quo if it is in their best interests, and because of the very nature of a democracy they will have more opportunities to do so( Przewoki and Limongi, 1993). However, the empirical evidence on the three perspectives in not clear-cut. Sirowry and inkeles( 1990) review thirteen studies; of which, six supported the skeptical view, four suggested qualified or conditional relationships, and three provided unconditional support for the conflict perspective. In a later survey, Brunetti ( 1997) reviewed 17 empirical studies of the democracy-growth relationship. He found ( at p. 167) nine studies report no relationship, one study a positive, one study a negative, three studies a fragile negative relationship and three studies a fragile positive relationship between democracy and economic growth. Helliwell (1994), Barro (1996) and Tavares and Waczing (2001) found that democracy has either a non-significant or moderately weak negative effect on growth once other growth-determining variables are held constant. On the basis of the mixed findings in the literature, a reasonable conclusion is that: We do not know whether democracy fosters or hinders gr owth (Przewoki and Limongi, 1993, P.64). However, as a provision to this, the balance of empirical evidence is with the conflict and skeptical views rather than the compatibility view. Effect of growth on Democracy: Political scientists have examined the effect of the economic growth on democracy. Most studies have found that economic growth generates demands for political right ( Lipset, 1959; Bollen, 1979; Bollen and Jackman, 1985; Burkhart and Lewis-Beck, 1994). At one level, casual empiricism seems to also support the view that economic growth promotes democracy. As Gupta et al. ( 1998, pp. 589-590) note, all of the developed, industrialized nations have a democratic political system. In contrast, most of the nations in the poorest segment of the world community operate under various forms of non-democratic political system. However, This is not ture in a blanket sense. Casual observation also suggests that economic growth does not necessarily bring about a demand for democracy. There are examples of authoritarian regimes in Southeast Asia and the Middle East where citizens are willing to forego demand for political liberalization provided their economic needs are being met. In these instance there is a good argument that it is only when the authoritarians government stops delivering on the economic front that there are calls for more political rights. An example is the fall of the Suharto regime in Indonesia following the Asian financial crisis when spiraling inflation and unemployment prevented Suharto from delivering in the economic sphere. Glasure et al. ( 1999) obtain results that are consistent with this view. Their finding suggest that in developing countries and newly industrializing countries economic development has a significant effect on democratic performance, but contrary to Lipest( 1959) economic development leads to lower levels of democracy. Glasure et al. ( 1999, p. 475) conclude: The sign reversal may stem from the possibility that as nations strive for economic development, the nations tend to trade off democracy for economic development Discussion of the results: In the result using the Freedom House dataset, Botswana stands out as the one country where there is support for both the compatibility and Lipset hypothese, i.e. there is Granger causality between democracy and real GDP in the long run, and democracy and real GDP have a positive effect on each other. The results using the Beck et al. (2001) dataset confirm long-run Granger causality running from GDP to democracy and the GDP has positive effect on democracy. The democracy growth is well established in Botswana. The OECD (1999, p.29) posited: Political stability has result fromà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦favorable economic conditions. While this is true, Botswanas economic success has also been built on democratic tradition in which there are no narrow ethnic-based interest groups with distinct means of expression, which has avoided infighting over diamonds and other political issue (Wiseman, 1990). Of course, Botswana has been described as an African success story ( Acemoglu et al., 2001) with the highest growth rate of any country in the world between 1960 and 1999. From 1965 to 1973 Bostswanas annual rate of growth of GDP was 14.8% which was the highest in the world except for the high income oil rich Oman (21.9%). From 1973 to 1984 Botswanas annual growth rate was 10.7% which was the highest in the world, outstripping Asian Tigers, Hong Kong (9.1%) and Singapore ( 8.2%) (World Bank, 1986). Between 1980 and 1990 Botswana grew at 11%, also the highest in the world over this period, with China second at 10.3% per annum. From 1990 to 2003 Botswanas growth slowed to 5.2% but was still in the top dozen countries in the World Bank world Development indicators list of countries over this period (World Bank, 2005). Botswana is one of only a few African countries with a democratic tradition (Wiseman, 1990). It has had continuous democracy since obtaining independence in 1996. The disc overy of diamond mines has facilitated economic growth, but there is more to Botswanas success than simply having abundant natural resources. There is universal agreement that the Botswana government has used the revenue from diamonds to pursue good policies (See e.g Acemoglu et al., 2001). Conclusion: The aim of this paper was to review the accumulated evidence on the impact of the democracy on economic growth. Existing studies and authors of primary studies have drawn inferences from only a limited set of information and have failed to reach a decisive conclusion. In contrast, I apply analysis, critic to the pool of 6 studies with 10 published estimates of the democracy-growth associations, and are able to draw other variables conclusions. This in line with Bhagwatis (1995) prediction that democracy does not handicap development. Second, while the direct effect is found to be Zero, this research papers result indicates that democracy has significant indirect effects on growth through various channels. In particular, this study also finds that democracy has a favorable impact on human capital formation, on the level of economic freedom, inflation and political instability. However, This study also find that democracy is associated with greater government spending and less free int ernational trade. Third, while there is no evidence of a democracy-growth effect for all countries combined all together, there are clear regional effects. The available evidence suggests that democracy has a larger effect on economic growth in Latin America, and that this is lower in Asia. Moreover, it appears that there is country-specific effect like China. Fourth, by comparing the democracy-growth association to research conducted elsewhere on the economic freedom growth assocaiton( Doucouliagos and Ulubasoglu 2006), we find that democracys direct effect on growth is zero, while economic freedom has a positive direct effect. In short, this research paper conclude that the empirical evidence that has accumulate over the past 40 years points to a zero direct effect on growth and significant direct effects on growth through factor accumulation, economic freedom, inflation and openness, with an adverse effect through government spending. The net effect is that democracy does not harm economic performance. This analysis paper can be applied to other dimension of democracy. For example, the links between democracy and the level of development rather than growth, the channels through which democracy impacts on both growth and development, as well as the determinants of democracy, are all promising areas for future research analysis to make more inclusive result.

Crisis :: essays research papers

On the 2nd of July 1997, Asia was hit by one of the most devastating financial crises it has ever seen. Of all the financial crisis that have taken place, this was one of the most distressing in that it was totally unexpected. The purpose of this paper is to show that particular developmental strategies employed by these economies eventually led to their downfall. It will attempt to find out where the origins of the crisis lie, and what events started the cycle that eventuated with this disaster. In order to trace the events that led to the eventual collapse of the Asian economies, one must venture across the ocean to the United States. The issue of liberalisation first gained attention in the US during the Regan Administration. However, it was during the Clinton era that liberalisation became a top priority. Whereas previous governments had pushed for the liberalisation of Japan, one of Clinton’s main foreign policy objectives was the liberalisation of the Asian economies. T his process was pushed forth in Asia with such vehemence because the region held a lot of investment opportunities for American Banks, Brokerages, and other financial sector businesses. Unfortunately, Asia’s economies were not structurally ready to deal with the influx of capital that was headed their way. They had weak banking and legal systems that were unable, or unwilling, to regulate the flow of foreign capital in the country. The Americans eventually persuaded Korea to relax its capital flow regulations by giving it the option of joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Even then, Korea was concerned that its financial institutions may not be able to deal with an influx of foreign capital. One fatal mistake that Korea, as well as other Southeast Asian countries made, was that they opened their capital markets in the wrong way. They did not allow long term investments in Korean companies, but rather, only short-term investments that could be re moved easily. One example of the sort of quick investments that were being made in Asia can be seen in the Japanese. In Japan the interest rates were very low, so investors would borrow at 2 percent and then convert their currency into Thai baht. Due to the interest rate differential, they were able to make a lot of money off simple currency conversion. Other Asian economies were quick to follow suit, and soon there was a movement of huge amounts of capital into the region.

Racial Differences in the Corrections System Essay

â€Å"According to Black Star Project Executive Director, Phillip Jackson, in 2007 there were 321 African American men enrolled at Northwestern University (1.7 percent of the student body) but four times that number – 1,207- imprisoned at Western Illinois Correctional Center (60 percent of the prison population)† (Walker, Spohn & Delone, 2012). This is only one example of the astounding percentage of young black men currently serving jail time as opposed to pursuing a college education. Something must be vitally wrong with our criminal justice system, since it allows these staggering numbers to hold truth. Overall the total percentage of young African American males is almost five times more than that of their young white or Hispanic male counterparts. I find this statistic very disturbing and chose to research the why and how this is occurring. There are many possible reasons such as limited access to public health clinics, racial profiling, unfair judicial systems, racial differences in judges, lawyers, and law makers, poverty, and parental upbringing; to name a few. How do these young men get sucked into a life of crime, do they have an alternative or a role model to seek counsel form? The numbers do not lie and there must be sound reasons behind them. In this paper I will research and discuss the various reasons why young African American males are grossly over represented in the criminal justice and corrections facilities. While the overall white population is higher than the African American population, 10.4 percent of African American men between the ages of 25-29 can expect to spend time in jail, compared with 2.4 percent of Hispanics and 1.2 percent of white men. Throughout this paper I will discuss not only the staggering numbers but also the reasoning behind them and possible solutions or at the very least a starting point to help fix the problem at hand. â€Å"†¦People of color are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, as crime victims, offenders, persons arrested, and persons in prison† (Walker, Spohn & Delone, 2012). It Starts at a Young Age There is more than one reason behind the racial imbalance in the criminal justice system. Areas that have been evaluated are parental involvement, peer groups, neighborhoods, the individual, and racial discrimination at all  levels. It appears that the problem is present in the juvenile justice system as well, something is not working right if these children are not receiving the rehabilitation and or help they need to lead a non-criminal life. Redding & Arigo, 2005 state this about the number of African American juvenile offenders, â€Å"†¦compromising only 15% of the juvenile population†¦and 57% of the juveniles in state prisons† I decided to discuss juveniles because I found it interesting that they also represented a large number of the criminal offenders in the juvenile justice system in a very similar way that the 25-28 year old African American males do. Several avenues I researched concluded that African American’s have a harder time accessing health facilities such as metal health clinics, where many of the common mental health disorders that criminal offenders suffer from can be treated. â€Å"As many as 70 percent of youth in the system are affected with a mental disorder, and one in five suffer from a mental illness so severe as to impair their ability to function as a young person and grow into a responsible adult† (Hammond, 2007). It seems to me that if we can stop the current process at a young age, why wouldn’t we? Poverty and Single Parent Homes Walker, Spohn & Delone state that 9.4 % of white Americans live in poverty compared to a shocking 25.8% of African American’s that live in poverty. There are thousands of studies that link poverty and poor neighborhoods with criminal activity, both victim and criminal. With a quarter of the African American population living at poverty level it is not surprising that they also retain such a large portion of the inmate population. â€Å"Regardless of whether poverty is a cause or an effect, however, the conditions associated with poverty can work against the development of human capital—that is the ability of individuals to remain healthy and develop the skills, abilities, knowledge, and habits necessary to fully participate in the labor force† (Nilsen, 2007). If people are not allowed the opportunity to reach their full potential often times a life of crime if the only way to survive. The United States Government recognizes that there is a link yet the problem still exists. Yes there are federally funded programs such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, but the poverty level is still alarmingly high. â€Å"The most telling fact about poverty in the  United States is how thoroughly it is ignored† (Royce, 2009). While there is a link between poverty and crime, there is also a link between single parent homes or absentee parent homes and crime as well. The percentage of African American families run by a single parent, usually the mother, is astounding, â€Å"†¦50% of all black households with children under age 18 are headed by black women† (Bush, 2004). Often times the majority of these families live at or below the poverty level, leading to a higher chance of violence and criminal activity. The evidence above begins to show the reasoning behind why African Americans have the highest racial population in prisons. In addition they often are judged harder and serve longer sentences in jail than there non-black counterparts. While racial profiling seems to be a likely source I found various accounts of whether or not it is a direct cause of the higher numbers of African American men in prison, the problem seems to lie further up the judicial system. â€Å"Young African American and Hispanic males, in other words, face greater odds of incarceration than young white males primarily because the commit more serious crimes and have more serious prior criminal records† (Walker, Spohn & Delone, 2012). Even though they may commit more serious crimes, when sentenced next to a non-minority for the same crime, their sentences are often longer. Clifford Levy 1996 of the New York Times states,† black and Hispanic people sentenced for minor felonies or misdemeanors in New York were treated more harshly than whites in similar circumstances.† His statements are based on a study released by the Pataki administration. Higher Up the Judicial System Other areas that may lead to the disproportioned numbers in the jails are judges, juries, and lawyers. Next I plan to discuss the differences in race among the judges, juries, lawyers, and law makers. â€Å"The jury is the heart of the criminal justice system† (Cole, 2000). How can racially fair rulings be handed out if the jury consists of mostly non-minorities? Racially biased judgments could be a cause of the difference in numbers in our criminal justice system. â€Å"An analysis of Jefferson Parish, La., by the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center found that from 1999 to 2007, blacks were struck from juries at more than three times the rate of whites† (Dewan, 2010). In  additional differences amongst the jurors, judges and lawyers are mostly white males. â€Å"Combined African American and Hispanic representation among lawyers was 7% in 1998†¦ There are fewer active African American federal appellate judges today than when Jimmy Carter was President† (T he collaboration the, n.d.). The buck does not stop here, the racial inequality continues up the ladder to Congress, the Senate, and the House. The article Do Your Lawmakers Represent all Americans, or is it Time to Change Congress states, â€Å"The U.S. population includes 12 percent African Americans, 9 percent Hispanics, and 3 percent Asian/Pacific Islanders and other groups. Congress, however, is 87 percent white; 85 percent in the House and 96 percent in the Senate.† If fact black members of the three government bodies above are often times questioned about decisions and their backing status far more than their non-minority counterparts. These numbers back the idea that African Americans face a discriminatory criminal justice system that starts at the top. Unfortunately racial biased is still something that is ingrained in most Americans and until the minorities are fairly represented in the government and judicial system, racial inequality within these entities will still exist. Comparison As mentioned previously African American males face longer prison sentences due to the fact that they commit more serious crimes and have longer criminal records, in general, than white Americans. The racial differences also extend to length of time served, higher rate of convictions and prison sentences. â€Å"The national incarceration rate for whites is 412 per 100,000 residents, compared to 2,290 for African Americans and 742 for Hispanics† (Mauer & King, 2007). Incarceration rates are directly affected by the sentencing process. As one might expect African Americans and Hispanics face a harsher time during the sentencing process than white Americans. â€Å"Of the estimates of the direct effect of race on sentencing at the state level, 43.2% indicated harsher sentences for blacks, and over a quarter (27.6%) of the estimates on the direct impact of ethnicity registered harsher sentences for Latinos† (Kansal, 2005). Per the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics in 2007 the conviction ratio broken down by race is as follows: whites 28.8%, blacks 24.4%, and Hispanics 43%. Overall the percentage of African American males and Hispanics males that will serve  time in prison compared to white males is significantly higher. Structural Inequality Based on the information above I believe it is apparent that there is severe structural inequality starting at the top with the government down through to the jurors. How can racial unbiased laws be passed if the government writing them is made up the racial majority. It is impossible to truly understand what it is like to be a minority without living it. Some may say they understand and can make unbiased decisions, but the fact remains that without living the lifestyle this is impossible to truly accomplish, which is why African Americans and Hispanics must fight to increase their numbers within the governing bodies. Next the judicial system needs to be addressed; they face the same racial disparities that the government does. White judges and juries are handing out the majority of the convictions and sentences, including those handed out to the minorities. It is evidenced that African Americans face harsher sentences and longer jail times than their white counterparts. â€Å"Efforts should be made to reinstate judicial discretion into the sentencing process to permit judges to craft sentences that accurately reflect the charged conduct and circumstances of the offense and defendant† (Mauer & King, 2007). Efforts need to be made to correct the imbalances that the United States criminal justice system currently faces. Conclusion â€Å"To be sure, criminalizing young Black males and warehousing them in jails and prisons will further exacerbate the problems of racial domination and ossify the economic and social inequities structuring their everyday lives† (Hill & Lee, 2010). The evidence does not lie; there are sound reasons why African American males between the age of 25-29 have more of their population behind bars. It often times starts at home and works it all the way up to the top. The same problem has been recognized at the juvenile level. African American juvenile offenders represent with a higher number of their population in the criminal justice system. I found some interesting studies that link mental illness to criminal activity. Many families living in poverty have limited access to mental health clinics, thus a possible source of aggression and criminal behavior is going untreated. Poverty levels are still extraordinarily high and it has been proven that living at  or below the poverty level and in rough neighborhoods, leads to criminal activity. As many as 50% of the African American families at or below the poverty level are run by a single parent, leading to even more family strain and stress. Another area that is giving rise to the above mentioned numbers is the fact that the criminal justice system, itself, has very few minority members. The House, Senate, and Congress also are compromised of mostly white. The numbers do not correlated with the overall populations in the United States. White judges, lawmakers, juries, and lawyers comprise over 90% of the judicially system and government bodies. It is easier to understand why minorities are dealt harsher sentences, serve longer jail times, are convicted at a higher rate and hold a larger percentage in the prison system. With the current system in place and the obvious structural inequality within the criminal justice system, I fear that the numbers will not change. Action must be taken to incorporate the minorities into these governing bodies. The issue needs to be addressed at the juvenile level, by helping these troubled teens; their numbers may start to decrease at all age levels. The reasoning behind the numbers has been laid out, is know by most, and yet is still a problem. It is time to make a change, if not 1 in every black male born today will see the inside of a prison cell and this is not acceptable. References Bush, L. (2004). How black mothers participate in the development of manhood and masculinity: What do we know about black mothers and their sons? The Journal of Negro Education, 73(4), 381-391. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4129623?uid=3739256&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21101002202873 Cole, D. (1999). No equal justice: Race and class in the american criminal justice system. New York: New. The collaboration the legal profession. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lfoa.org/barnone/barnone_collaboration. Dewan, S. (2010, June 1). Study finds blacks blocked from southern juries. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/us/02jury.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Blacks Still Being Blocked from Juries in the South, Study Finds&st=cse Do your lawmakers represent all americans, or is it time to change congress?. (n.d.).

buy custom International Red Cross essay

buy custom International Red Cross essay This is an international humanitarian campaign with volunteers, members and staff close to 97 million. It was founded in the year 1863 with an objective of protecting human life and health. (Haug 16) They did this to prevent and alleviate human suffering without discrimination. The organization has over the years applied a logic model to plan and organize their activities using qualitative and quantitative data. Through this, they are able to save more lives and help more people since they are well prepared. Having a logic model has helped the organization to emerge a success all over the world. Red Cross is reputed for being the first to appear whenever there is a calamity. In addition, they use an electronic system to collect and store data. This logic planning process has enabled the organization to expand and spread throughout the world. Global Relief Technologies has been an immense help to Red Cross. This has been through their program the Mobile based Rapid Data Management System that allows them to respond promptly to emergencies. Hazad zone planning is also among the various planning systems Red Cross uses to ensure they are efficient. The aim of evaluating this program was to verify the overall efficiency and sustainability of the organization. (Haug 25)The evaluation method used was an analysis that involved field visits to some of the provinces faced by natural disasters. The target population as determined using random sampling of the provinces worst affected by calamities like hurricanes and floods. Once the area was identified, the sample population was selected randomly and interviews conducted. During the visit, many people and stakeholders were interviewed, oral and written interviews ere applied. The analysis is ere required to undertake safety measures since they ere visiting hazardous regions. An example wasthat they had to consult with weather stations to determine the likely weather conditions they would expect. In addition, they ere required to it was crucial to hire guides since they were visiting these areas for the first time. These measures were extremely necessary in my opinion.< The findings of this evaluation were that the partnership and integrated project were applicable and guided by the needs of the community. In addition, they matched up to the theory that had been put across about the objectives and success of Red Cross. The evaluation concluded that the activities of the organization have contributed towards making the world a safe place. Most branches associated their productivity with the good and logic planning system the organization has implemented. From the findings, it was recommended that Red Cross increase their personnel worldwide. They should also make it easier for the public to join their programs. This way, they will be able to reach out to more people in need. Improvements on their planning systems were also recommended to an up to date system that would increase its efficiency. This is because; technology is changing at an alarming rate and they need to keep up. In my opinion, nothing should be done differently in the organizations programs because the organization is a success. Buy custom International Red Cross essay