Common law Degree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Common law Degree - Essay Example About the mother who suffered distress, anxiety and nervous shock resultant of the straying of the children onto an unfinished landscaping project, the direct link or chain of causation element is likewise in attendance. However, the emotional impact may not be fully appreciated by the court as it could possibly be an unusual and unnatural over-reaction. Again, this can be a mitigating circumstance. d-2. Remoteness of damage. It is an element where the damage or loss must be determined as the proximate result of the negligence or quasi-delict. In the elderly/disabled customer, this cannot be made a consideration as the slippage was in truth and in fact the direct result of the unsafe pathway or of the lack of personnel in the center to have provided assistance along the passage. However, for the mother who was shocked, this may be a consideration, but one of mitigation. Why Because if her having been annoyed or distressed or disturbed is in such a level as will render a judgment from an unbiased mind that it is too much more than an ordinary or usual reaction from a human emotion. It is like saying that it is a remote possibility that the shock which the mother experienced would be in that proportion as to become one of a nervous wreckage. d-3. Foreseeability. ... The centre is liable for the elderly/disabled guest who slipped while passing the unsafe pathway. Although Rareplants exercised the diligence required of a good father of a family, it could have done better like providing escort or ushering assistance to the special customers who are handicapped. In sum, the centre was in a position to foresee that the slipping off track could happen to a visitor who has disabilities or limitations. In the incident of the children having gone astray, Rareplants has to be adjudged answerable because it was in the position to foresee that some classes of visitors like adventurous children would explore the supposedly prohibited area and could have designated guards or watchmen for the purpose of avoiding any unfortunate happening. ABC Accountants Ltd c. Yes. There is a special relationship between you and Lucy. Any advice from a professional, even if not express or formal or written, is binding even if there is a proviso of non-accountability. The characteristic of that relationship which is not express or formal or written may be denominated as special in that it is not in the regular or standard form. As a matter of course, one that is not ordinary is special. In professional ethics, it does not matter whether the relationship is either. In the instant case and according to its underlying circumstances, however, you are not liable. Why Because your advice did not guarantee success in any given situation which was, as a matter of fact, subject to unpredictable variances and that if the client took it as a wagering decision, she did so at her own risk. In contrast, an engineer who advises this and

The Harmful Effects of Video Games Vs. The Benefits Essay Example for Free

The Harmful Effects of Video Games Vs. The Benefits Essay There are many questions about video games and how they affect children. I believe that video games are harmful to children in many ways. Many studies have tried to prove that they are harmful, as well that they are also beneficial to children. It is difficult to understand which argument is the truth behind the research. I believe that the harmful effects are greater than the benefits. The benefits that the children can learn through video games can also be taught to them other ways besides just video games. Video games are not the only way to teach the children values and how to live properly. Video games are damaging the way that our children think and act, as well as harming their bodies by teaching them wrong morals about themselves and others. The first way that video games are harming our youth is psychologically. There was a study published in the Journal of personality and Social Psychology that children that were playing video games were reported to be more aggressive than those of children that do not play video games. Previous research has documented that playing violent video games has various negative effects on social behavior in that it causes an increase in aggressive behavior and a decrease in prosocial behavior. In contrast, there has been much less evidence on the effects of prosocial video games. In the present research, 4 experiments examined the hypothesis that playing a prosocial (relative to a neutral) video game increases helping behavior. In fact, participants who had played a prosocial video game were more likely to help after a mishap, were more willing (and devoted more time) to assist in further experiments, and intervened more often in a harassment situation. Results further showed that exposure to prosocial video games activated the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which in turn promoted prosocial behavior.( Greitemeyer, Tobias; Osswald, Silvia, 2012) The research also found that children that were exposed to the video games were also did have  the ability to control the aggression. The children see the horror and the violence on the games and believe that it is proper to act the same way when they get angry. The children cause fights and can harm other people. Another effect that video games have on children is their ability to pay attention. The children that play the video games are only focused on the games. It can become an addiction to them. They do not feel that anything else is important in life besides the games. The children lose track of everything that is important and feel that the games are the only thing that is important. The children also lose the idea of socializing. They spend some much time playing games and isolating themselves away from other children or people, they do not learn how to socialize and learn to deal with other people. The video games are also harming children physically as well. Children that play video games do not get the exercise than a normal child should. Children sit and play games for many hours a day. A regular child should have 60 minutes or more a day to be healthy. When a child is playing video games, they are not receiving that exercise. When a child does not get the exercise they need, weight gain is a problem. Obesity is already a major problem with children these days, but video games just add to the problem even more. The weight gain can cause many health problems in children. These problems with children can contribute to future health problems. Weight gain also teaches the children unhealthy habits that they will continue as they get older. The children do not see that being healthy is important. They grow up and continue to not worry about their bodies or being healthy. Research has documented negative effects of video games on childrens physical health, including obesity, video-induced seizures, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, and carpal tunnel syndrome. However, these effects are not likely to occur for most children. The research to date suggests that parents should be most concerned about two things: the amount of time that children play, and the content of the games that they play. (Gentile, PhD, 2000) Eye problems are also a result from video games. A child sits and watches just the game for many hours. The games cause the children to strain their eyes. The eye strain can cause headaches, discomfort, fatigue, and blurry eyes. If a child plays games for a long time, the games can cause eye focusing problems. Playing video games for extended amounts of time can  cause children to experience many of the same symptoms seen in computer vision syndrome in adults. Extensive viewing of the game screen can lead to eye discomfort, fatigue, blurry vision and headaches. Kids seem to become so engrossed in video games that they forget to take breaks. Prolonged game play without significant breaks can cause eye focusing problems, as well as eye irritation. (Bedinghaus, 2008) The children’s eyes are delicate and when playing games for a long time, the eyes tend to not want to focus well on other items. There are ways that people have argued that video games can be beneficial. The first argument that they have is that the video games teach the children about strategic thinking and planning. The games teach the children quests, which the children have to learn to get through by planning out the routine for the game. There are reports that stated that children that played video games, the children’s math, reading, and spelling improved. The games have many side shots that they have to read. The children learn better reading from reading all the shots in the game. The children also learn better spelling by all the reading that they have to do in the game. The math skills are better because the games have many different goals to earn and to count how to get there in the game. Video games also teach a child simulation, adventure, and role-playing. They learn the role-playing from pretending to be other people in the games. They learn adventure from all the different kinds of games and their themes. There are also many career opportunities for when they get older. The children can be game designers and game programmers. So there are some benefits for video games. Even though there are a few reasons to believe that video games can be educational to the children, there are more reasons to believe that the games are harmful to the children. The video games cause psychological and physical problems with children. So as some of the results might say that gaming is beneficial to children. They should be controlled on what they play and how much they are in contact with. Children are learning bad behaviors and harming themselves without even understanding the thought that they are doing anything wrong. Children are children because they need to be taught how to live and do things right. When they have other factors telling and showing them violence, horror, and harmful ways to live, they are going to start using these factors and living them. Video games are harmful to children and  should be considered very closely when letting the children play them by monitoring the types of games that the children are playing, as well as the amount of time that they spend playing the games. References Bedinghaus (2008). Video Games and Vision Video Games May Cause Vision Problems in Kids. About Vision Eyes and Vision Problems Eye Health Vision and Eye Care. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://vision.about.com/od/childrensvision/qt/Video_Games.htm Computer games health issues | Better Health Channel. (2012, September 11). Home | Better Health Channel. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Computer_games_health_issues Dr. Phil.com Advice Children and Violent Video Games. (2012). Dr. Phil.com. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/297 Gentile, PhD, D. A. (2000). Pediatrics for Parents. Pediatrics for Parents. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.pedsforparents.com/articles/2791.shtml Greitemeyer, Tobias, Osswald, Silvia (2012). Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior. American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecordid=993617CC-95FF-E099-47CA-8791DAA7640BresultID=1page=1dbTab=pa Iowa State University (2011, May 22). Video game effects on kids: Not all black and white, expert argues. Science Daily. Retrieved October 18, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/05/110510101504.htm Why Video Games Are Good for Your Kids. (2012). ReadWriteWeb Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networking and Social Media. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from

Push and Pull Factors in Business

Push and Pull Factors in Business Companies decide to go global and enter international markets for a variety of reasons, and these different objectives at the time of entry should produce different strategies, performance goals, and even forms of market participation. However, companies often follow a standard market entry and development strategy. The most common is sometimes referred to as the â€Å"increasing commitment† method of market development, in which market entry is done via an independent local partner. As business and confidence grows, a switch to a directly controlled subsidiary is often enacted. This internationalization approach results from a desire to build a business in the country-market as quickly as possible and by an initial desire to minimize risk coupled with the need to learn about the country and market from a low base of knowledge. International markets evolve rapidly and very often companies struggle to keep up in terms of their strategy. It is therefore reasonable to deduce that many companies’ international operations will consist of a collage of country market operations that pursue different objectives at any one time. This, in turn, suggests that most companies would adopt different entry modes for different markets. More commonly, however, is for companies to evolve a template that is followed in almost all markets. This usually starts with market entry via an indirect distribution channel, usually a local independent distributor or agent. Factors leading to wide acceptability of international business: The factors leading to the wide acceptability of international business are: Globalization of economics: The policy of liberalization was adopted which led to the globalization of various economics including the former communist countries and socialist pattern of the society. The globalization of economics has been instrumental in the growth of international business. Rapid technological advancement: Many firms have emerged up with innovated products or with improved process technology. With the demand for such products and technology being price-inelastic, these firms have moved abroad in order to reap large profits. The development of information technology has bought different countries closer and has encouraged firms to move abroad with the minimum of difficulties. Establishment of WTO: In today’s highly competitive globalized business environment, WTO is indispensable enables a country to attain the status of MFN clause which is required for scaling the international competitiveness and it implies that any concession given to any nation becomes available to all the member countries. Enlargement of European Union: Since 1991 the membership of EU has increased. It increased from 15 members to 27 members. This has also led to the promotion of internationalization of business. Increase in Competition: With increasing competition, firms have preferred not only to source raw material and intermediate goods from the least-cost country but also to set up their units in different countries, which minimises the cost of operation and reduces financial risk. The growing concept of cost minimization and risk reduction, with a view to surviving in a competitive environment, has led to rapid growth of the internationalization process. Higher growth rate of GDP in developing countries: Higher growth rate of GDP of China, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico and other developing countries has also been one of the significant factors for changing scenario of international business. Increase in business alliance In degree and variety: During last 15 years international business alliances, joint ventures, mergers, amalgamations and takeovers have occurred in the world by the companies of different countries. This has further led to widening of international business. Increase in educational and career orientation opportunities: These factors resulted in enhancement of opportunities for higher value addition in developing countries. The developing countries started attracting multinational companies to establish their businesses in their countries. Why companies engage in international business? There are several drivers of international business. The driving forces that motivate companies to go global can be classified into pull forces and push forces. The pull forces are proactive which pull the business to foreign markets. The push forces on the other hand are reactive forces which promote the companies to go international. Pull/ Proactive Forces- Attractiveness of the Foreign Markets: Profit advantage due to increase in volume: For companies, mostly in the developed countries, which have been operating below their capacities, the developing markets offer immense opportunities to increase their sales and profits. Low wage/ cheap labour attraction: Many multinational companies (MNCs) are locating their subsidiaries in low wage and low cost countries to take advantage of low cost production. Taking advantage of growth opportunities: MNCs are getting increasingly interested in a number of developing countries as the income and population are rapidly rising in these countries. Foreign markets, in both developed country and developing country, provide enormous growth opportunities for the developing country firms too. Growth of regional trading blocs: Regional trading blocs are adding to the pace of globalization. WTO, EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR and FTAA are major alliances among the countries. Trading blocs seek to promote international business by removing trade and investment barriers. Integration among countries results in efficient allocation of resources throughout the trading area, promoting growth of some business and decline of others, development of new technologies and products, and elimination of old. Declining trade and investment barriers: Declining trade and investment barriers have vastly contributed to globalization. The free trade regime, business across the globe has grown considerably. Goods, services, capital and technology are moving across the nations significantly. Push/ Reactive Forces- Compulsion of the Domestic Market: Saturation of domestic demand: The market for a number of products tends to saturate or decline in the advanced countries. This often happens when the market potential has been almost fully tapped. For example, the fall in the birth rate implies contraction of market for several baby products. Businesses undertake international operations in order to expand sales, acquire resources from foreign countries, or diversify their activities to discover the lucrative opportunities in other countries. Scale economies and technological revolution: Economies of scale are reductions in unit production costs resulting from large-scale operations. The technological advances have increased the size of the optimum scale of operation substantially in many industries making it necessary to- have foreign market, in addition to the domestic market, to take advantage of scale economies. Technological revolution: Revolution is a right word which can best describe the pace at which technology has changed in the recent past and is continuing to change. Significant developments are being witnessed in communication, transportation and information processing, including the emergence of the internet and the World Wide Web. Domestic recession: Domestic recession often provokes companies to explore foreign markets. One of the factors which prompted the Hindustan Machine Ltd. (HMT) to take up exports very seriously was the recession in the home market in the late 1960s. Competition as driving force: Competition may become a driving force behind internationalization. There might be intense competition in the home market but little in certain foreign countries. A protected market does not normally motivate companies to seek business outside the home market. Government policies and regulations: Government policies and regulations may also motivate internationalization. There are both positive and negative factors which could cause internationalization. Many governments offer a number of incentives and other positive support to domestic companies to export and to invest in foreign investment. Improving image of the companies: International business has certain spin-offs too. It may help the company to improve its domestic business; international business helps to improve the image of the company. There may be the ‘white skin’ advantage associated with exporting- when domestic consumers get to know that the company is selling a significant portion of the production abroad, they will be more inclined to buy from such a company. Strategic vision: The systematic and growing internationalisation of many companies is essentially a part of their business policy or dtrategic management. The stimulus for internationalisation comes from the urge to grow, the need to become more competitive, the need to diversify and to gain strategic advantages of internationalisation. Importance of International Business: High living standards: Comparative cost theory indicates that the countries which have the advantage of raw materials, human resources, natural resources and climatic conditions in producing particular goods can produce the products at low cost and also of high quality. Increased Socio-Economic Welfare: International business enhances consumption level, and economic welfare of the people of the trading countries. For example, the people of China are now enjoying a variety of products of various countries than before as China has been actively involved in international business like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s range of products, electronic products of Japan and coffee from Brazil. Wider Market: International business widens the market and increase the market size. Therefore, the companies need not depend on the demand for the product in a single country or customer’s tastes and preferences of a single country. Reduced effect of Business Cycles: The stages of business cycles vary from country to country. Therefore, MNCs shift from the country, experiencing a recession to the country experiencing ‘boom’ conditions. Thus, international business firms can escape from the recessionary conditions. Reduced risks: Both commercial and political risks are reduced for the companies engaged in international business due to spread in different countries. Large scale economies: Multinational companies due to wider and larger markets produce larger quantities, which provide the benefit of large-scale economies like reduced cost of production, availability of expertise, quality, etc. Potential untapped markets: International business provides the chance of exploring and exploiting the potential markets which are untapped so far. These markets provide the opportunity of selling the product at a higher price than in domestic markets. Provides the opportunity for and challenge to domestic business: International business firms provide the opportunities to the domestic companies. These opportunities include technology, management expertise, market intelligence, product developments, etc. Division of labour and specialisation: International business leads to division of labour and specialisation. Brazil specializes in coffee, Kenya in tea, Japan in automobiles and electronics. India in textiles garments, etc. Economic growth of the World: Specialisation, division of labour, enhancement of productivity, posing challenges, development to meet them, innovations and creations to meet the competition lead to overall economic growth of the world nations. Optimum and proper utilisation of World Resources: International business provides for the flow of raw materials, natural resources and human resources from the countries where they are in excess supply to those countries which are in short supply or need most. Cultural Transformation: International business benefits are not purely economical or commercial; they are even social and cultural. It does not mean that the good cultural factors and values of the East are acquired by the West and vice versa. Thus, there is a close cultural transformation and integration. Knitting the World into a Closely Interactive Traditional Village: International business ultimately knits the global economies, societies and countries into a closely interactive and traditional village where one is for all and all are for one.

Article About Email Privacy :: essays research papers

TO:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Justin Bridges, division manager SUBJECT:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SUMMARY ON E-MAIL AT WORK I am writing this summary in response to your request. I am using an article titled â€Å"Caught up in the communication loop should email at work be curbed or nurtured† by Hilary Freeman. Major Points The author Hilary Freeman discusses how email at work can interfere with our jobs but this new form of communication can be a good thing.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Job communication. Stephen Roberts a freelance copywriter says, â€Å"I was working the offices of a large television company. Nobody spoke to each other- virtually all information was communicated by email.† There were times when he would tell his boss he had finished a project and his boss would tell him to send an email and wait for instructions.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Communication replacement. Psychologist Guy Fielding does not think that email is replacing other forms of communication. Guy doesn’t think the telephone will be used less because you will still use the telephone when talking to people you know and when you want to set up an interview face-to-face. Guy also thinks that when a new type of communication comes out it is overused at first. He says that the email jokes will eventually stop and just important information will be received through email.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Email is a tool. A psychologist at the Open University named Adam Joinson says that email has many benefits. â€Å"It’s a great tool for brainstorming, decision making and getting diverse groups in organizations- such as marketing and accounts- to talk to each other.† With email you can think about a response to a question and not have to worry about silence when you’re face-to-face. It is also nice when you have a message to deliver to a lot of people, this way you will be sure not to forget anyone. Adam thinks that when people can’t see each other then they tend to disclose more information. When using email we can concentrate on the message and not the way we present it. Strengths and Weaknesses I think the strength of this article is on how well it supports the ideas of using email as a good source for sending messages in the workplace.

Analysis of “The Seduction”

The Seduction is a poem written by Eileen McCauley. It is about a young and vulnerable sixteen year old girl whose head is filled with thoughts about love and romance portrayed in teenage magazines. These fake ideals lead her to believe that a boy, whom she meets at a party, truly loves her, when really he is just getting her drunk so her resistance will be lower and she will give in to what he wants from her: sex. Three months later she discovers that she is pregnant, she blames teen magazines for filling her head with false ideal of romance.In the very first verse of the poem, the writer introduces the scene of the poem, â€Å"He led her to the quiet bricks of the Birkenhead docks, far past the silver stream of the traffic throughout the city, far from the blind windows of the tower blocks. † This tells us of how there is nobody around to witness what they do. It becomes clear to the reader at the beginning of the poem that he is trying to get her drunk, as when the poet is describing the moment they met, one of the first things he is doing is buying her drinks. We also see this at a later stage when they are at the docks. He handed her the vodka† – this quote proves that he is making an effort to try and get the girl drunk because the alcohol will affect her decisions and causes her to agree to things she normally wouldn’t. Also In the second verse, the boy mutters â€Å"little slag. †This shows us that the boy thinks very little of the girl and lacks respect for women. We then discover that the girl is under some sort of spell because as he talked about football, â€Å"she had nodded, quite enchanted† this shows us that she is keen to listen to what he has to say. With his eyes as blue as iodine† – the use of the word ‘iodine’ used to describe his eyes suggests that there is something dark about him as iodine is a dark blue/black acid. In the fifth stanza, the boy mentions that he goes down to the river when he should be in school or having dinner with â€Å"a bag of shimmering paint thinner. † This shows us that he doesn’t spend much, if any time in school and that he uses the paint thinner as a drug. If the girl was sober, this would be a clear sign to stay away from him but he has lowered her resistance by getting her drunk.We can tell that the girl is a young teenager who enjoys school and wants to do well as she talks about her education in an enthusiastic way. The beginning of the sixth stanza makes us realise how precocious this girl really is, â€Å"so she followed him there, all high white shoes, all wide blue eyes and bottles of vodka. † This sentence shows us that she is trying to grow up too fast because this is what the magazines made her believe was the right thing to do. The poets then says â€Å"then when he swiftly contrived to kiss her, his kiss was scented by Listerine† this tells us that he was prepared for what he wanted to do.Even though we realise that the girl is very precocious, we discover how immature she actually is as it says â€Å"she stifled a giggle, reminded of numerous stories from teenage magazines† this also tells us that she has read about moments like these but hasn’t experienced them until now. The next stanza begins with â€Å"When she discovers she was three months gone† this shows us that the poet has used euphemism to emphasise the harsh reality of what this girl is going through. And she ripped up all her My Guy and Jackie photo comics† I think she does this because the magazines are what filled her head with false ideals about what romance and love should be like. She is angry that the media lied to her and that’s why she ripped then all up. The next stanza then says â€Å"and on that day, she broke the heels of her high white shoes and flung them at the wall† she does this because they were the shoes she wore on the night of the part y to make her look and feel older.She doesn’t want them anymore as she realises that she doesn’t want to be older because of the massive problem that she is faced with. The eighth stanza is mainly telling us about what the magazines have told this girl about what her life should be like â€Å"full of glitzy fashion features and stories of love and romance, where strangers could lead you to bright new worlds, and how would you know if you never took a chance? † This reflects on the consequences of what she did last night and how the media made her think she should take a chance.The ninth stanza says â€Å"full of fresh fruit diets† this shows us that she won’t be able to try out any of these diets as she is now three months pregnant. â€Å"Now with a softly rounded belly, she was sickened every morning by stupid stupid promises, only tacitly made† This shows us that she is reminded every morning of the huge mistake that she made that night. A lso the word â€Å"stupid† is repeated twice, maybe to emphasise that she regrets her actions a lot.The poet then states in the ten and eleventh stanza the things that the girl would be missing out on. This reminds us that the girl is so young and is faced with problems that she shouldn’t have to face at that age. â€Å"With a glass of lager-shandy, on a carpeted floor† this sentence makes the fantasy of romance seem far better than what is really is. The use of the words â€Å"carpeted floor† makes it seem luxurious and â€Å"lager shandy† makes it seem much more innocent as it is a lighter drink than the vodka she drunk the night of the party.In the last few stanzas, the poet states things that the girl would rather do than become pregnant â€Å"But then again, better to be smoking scented drugs or festering, invisibly unemployed† This shows us that she is almost going into a state of depression. She then describes being ‘stuck in a feminine void’, which basically means accidentally becoming pregnant. In the very last stanza, it becomes clear to us that she is very ashamed of herself because the poet says â€Å"better to turn away, move away, fade away, than to have the neighbours whisper ‘you always looked the type. ’

One Step Back †Using Smaller Markets To Break Into Larger Ones

One Step Back – Using Smaller Markets To Break Into Larger Ones When breaking into a large market – especially where you have no prior experience – rejection is a certainty. Not everyone can nail the perfect pitch on the first try, and writers should keep their heads up and keep trying. But what happens when the rejections keep coming in, no matter what you try? Each person would have their own reasons as to why they arent nailing the pitch. It might be the pitch being bland, it might be the ideas not hitting the target, or it might be good, solid ideas that have been covered already. To help hone what part of the process is letting you down, you can try pitching to publications lower down the rung. This move backwards can either be very simple or extremely hard, depending how niche your target publication is. Someone writing about technology could probably have an easier time than those wanting to write about model trains. If moving downwards seems impossible, consider going sideways: find a publication which doesnt necessarily feature your niche, but still utilizes it. Once youve found your target, its time to start! You may find that articles that were rejected from your original target are more than suitable for the smaller publications, given the fact that theyre in more need to fill up slots for their publication schedule. Once you get an acceptance, you can develop a working relationship with the editor: talk them through pitches, note what they reject and accept, see why they reject specific articles and hone your pitches and ideas to suit them. After a few months, you may begin to notice that the publication becomes very easy to pitch to. This means its time to spread your wings and go for bigger, better-paying publications – mainly, your original target! Use your new-found skills to make a second attempt at landing that acceptance. The best part is, any queries that fail to strike the fancy of your target can very easily become accepted ideas with the editor you work with. I learned this the hard way when I decided that bite-sized, factual articles would be great fun to write. I was first drawn to Listverse because of its simplicity: research ten points, write the article, send it in, and get paid $100 for the enjoyment of creating a well-researched article. It seemed ideal, but I couldnt break in at all. I decided to try the waters with another website, TopTenz, despite their paying only half of what Listverse does. They liked the ideas that Listverse didnt, and I began to work with the editor of TopTenz to get my ideas out there and earning some money. I learned a lot from the months of working with the editor, and when I look back at the pitches I gave Listverse, I cringe at how naive I was. While I still work with the TopTenz editor closely, I recently decided to use my new-found knowledge to try to break into Listverse once again. On the second pitch of my re-attempt, I got a green light that eventually lead to an acceptance and payment! I highly doubt I could have crafted a winning pitch if it were not for my experience with TopTenz. If youre having issues getting into a publication, try mastering the level below it. Once youve done that, the only feasible step is to move up – and thats when youll be much better equipped to land that gig youve wanted.

Admission Essay Topics Attention-Grabbing Facts to Help You Craft a Top-Notch Paper

Admission Essay Topics Attention-Grabbing Facts to Help You Craft a Top-Notch Paper The process of successfully gaining admission into an academic institution is getting harder day-by-day as the number of candidates applying for a limited number of spaces is growing. So, now it is the right time to show some unique talent and improve your chances to get admission in a college or university. It always becomes interesting for a student to study if he gets admission in the institution of hi choice. How to become successful? How to prove that you are the one who deserves to get admission? You can show your talent by writing a stellar personal essay as part of your college application. One of the best ways to learn how to write a college application essay is through reading other successful admissions essays. An admission essay topic is merely of 500 words, but it changes the whole scenario of a college application and can play a decent role in creating the difference between acceptance and rejection. Your admission virtually depends on how you write your admission essay. A good admission essay shows the admissions committee how you are different from everybody else. Admission essays provide information about you that test scores, grades, and extracurricular activities cannot. Admission essay topics can be chosen freely and they are available in plenty. You can narrate your favorite activity, tell about your point of view on a particular subject, describe your future plans; memorable incidents form your personal life or even a story about your dog. An ideal admission essay must attract the reader. Good admission essay are always eye catching. Admission essay must be written in such a way that it captures the reader’s attention and shows that you are exceptional. Students often make mistakes while writing their essays. Writing a good admission essay is not a hard job but competition makes it stressful. On one hand, students have lack of information about the subject they are writing and on the other hand some students suffer due to carelessness and overconfidence. At that moment all that they need is a helping hand which must guide them through the way. At CustomWritings.com we have professional writers who can prove to be good guides for you. They are specialized in different fields. So, if you have trouble in writing your admission essay you can contact customwritings.com any time and we will gladly assist you.

9 Tips for Managing Exam Stress

9 Tips for Managing Exam Stress Do you struggle with exam stress? Do you grapple with test-style performance anxiety? It’s all good and perfectly natural for the vast majority of human beings. So relax, and read this 4-minute article full of tips for managing said stress. Enjoy! 1. Come Prepared The more prepared you are the more in-control you’ll feel. You’ll be confident and inspired rather than under slept and on the edge of sheer panic. When you slack off, excessively procrastinate or rely on ineffective study habits test time can be a nightmarish experience! So start studying early, set a study schedule in stone and stick to it, and make sure that come test time you’ve got your ducks in a row. Also, you should find out all the details about the exams. Check out which 15 questions you must ask your professor before finals. 2. Sleep Like 10 Hours! Now, the more prepared you are for the test the easier you’ll sleep the night before. If you didn’t procrastinate then on the day before the test you shouldn’t have a tremendous amount to do other than simply brush up on things you already know and go over them one last time. That’s it. So it should be easy to crash early and get up early. Refreshed, mentally awake and ready to ace it! If you dont feel confident and want to study at night, then at least find out how to study for a test the night before effectively. 3. Get Adequate Micronutrients First of all, don’t skip breakfast on test day. And, eat a healthy breakfast. In fact, if you eat healthy in general your mind is going to work better†¦Eat organics. Eat fresh fruits and veggies. Stay away from over processed, preserved and packaged foods. It’s going to help you stay in shape and seriously, that translates into a sharper mind. 4. Stay Away from Stimulants Don’t drink coffee in the morning of the test. You should have gotten plenty of sleep the night before. Stay away from high sugar/caffeine energy drinks as well because they’ll typically cause you to crash. What if you crash during the test and pass out, drooling on your test? It’s not a good idea to consume this stuff when you need to be on your game. 5. Avoid Perfectionism You can actually take things too seriously and cause yourself to draw a big fat blank during the test! Perfectionism is creepy and it causes heart attacks dude. Yes, A’s are awesome. We all know that, but keep things in perspective please. B’s and C’s get degrees as well. Do your best of course, but don’t have a stroke in the process. 6. Call Mom or Dad In other words, if you’re feeling super-stressed out just call someone that cares about you and have a chat. Let it out! Talk to someone older that’s been through it. Talk to your professor. Talk to someone that understands. Conversation can be a HUGE stress reliever and it gives you a chance to verbalize what you’ve been neck-deep in for a while. 7. Keep Negativity In Check Depression and anxiety are rampant on modern college campuses today. Exercise and proper nutrition are going to work wonders, along with staying away from artificial stimulants. Furthermore, adequate sleep really helps as well. But, at the end of the day your attitude is going to be a pretty big indicator of how you’ll perform on a test. Keep your attitude confident and upbeat and you’ll do things you never imagined you could! 8. Don’t Study Alone Think of taking a big test like going into battle. No one wants to head out into the field of war alone. No one wants to face the hordes all by their lonesome. When you know that you’re taking tests with friends or study partners, it feels like a shared load. Studying in groups is genius. Really, it pays off in more ways than one. You meet people. You feel more relaxed during tests. The studying is typically better quality. The list goes on and on and it can really be a stress reliever. 9. Take Breaks This goes along with obsessive compulsive perfectionism. Don’t take things so seriously that you never disengage and give your psyche a break for a month before the test. If you’ve done your homework regularly, attended class, taken good notes and studied along the way you’ll do fine! Make sure to do other stuff. Go out and see a movie. Play some basketball. Go on a hike. Get your back waxed. Something! Yes, at the end of the day college can be reduced to a number of critical tests that determine whether you get a degree or not. That’s true. But exam stress doesn’t do you a whole lot of good. If you use it like an iron hot cattle prod behind you, propelling you to do the right thing, then that’s great! But if you let the stress consume you it’s only going to brutalize your scores. What do you do to handle exam stress and anxiety and come out on top? Don’t be shy, because you could really help someone in a time of dire need here.

International Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

International Finance - Assignment Example The economy of Thailand is still in its nascent stage. The managed floating rate of exchange along with the Inflation Targeting framework has worked well for the country under consideration. The flexibility in the exchange rate helps the economy in absorbing shocks. With the adoption of the above exchange rate, Thai Baht moves in line with the economic fundamental. It was seen that the Baht/US dollar exchange rate have fluctuated widely from 36-56 Baht/US dollar. But the exchange rate in the past few years. Blades Inc. wants to import many raw materials like plastic and/or rubber from Thailand. This would enable Blades to import them at much cheaper rate. Hence this would enable Blades Inc. to lower the cost of goods sold. Thailand is a weak economy and they are recovering from the effects which results in lower cost of goods. Importing from Thailand will help Blades Inc. in establishing long term relationship with the Thai suppliers. The company will definitely want to build a long term relationship so that they can make agreements with the suppliers in importing the costs at low prices. Blades Inc. by importing raw materials from Thailand will help achieve economies of scale in the production process such that it enjoys special advantages from them. Again by achieving specialization in production efficiency, Blades Inc. will be able to achieve economies of scale and which will in turn lead to lower cost of the products. This will in turn increase the net income of Blades, Inc. With increase in sales, Blades, Inc. will have an impact on profitability together with lowering the unit costs. Blades, Inc. will be able to sell roller blades in Thailand as the first firm. This will help the company to penetrate Thai market and thus they will be able to earn more profit for the company. If a situation comes where the US roller blades is saturated then exports in other countries will provide more opportunities

Crisis Communications Paper on MS13 Gang Violence Essay

Crisis Communications Paper on MS13 Gang Violence - Essay Example This radical change in this field caused the mankind inviting many problems as well as solutions to deal with them. Appropriate communication during the time of crisis plays a pivotal role to manage the situation effectively. As at the time of crisis the emotions are at their highest level because of stress which often makes people behave in an erratic way. Confusion creeps in their mind to manage the crisis and at that time effective communication skills comes to their rescue. Crisis situations may vary in their nature such as a disastrous situation due to a natural calamity or a terrorist attack or even violence caused by the street gangs and many others. All these situations demands prompt actions which in turn can lead to wrong moves. "Adequate coping skills along with other balancing factors, such as realistic perception of the event and social support can help minimize overreaction"(Radziewicz, http://www.conversationsincare.com/web_book/chapter03.html). In recent days youth ga ngs are mushrooming at many places causing havoc in the society with their violent deeds. One such deadly and violent youth gang of United States and of Central America is MS-13 which poses a threat to the life and liberty of the people. Mara Salvatrucha abbreviated to MS-13 derives its origin to the Civil War of El Salvador in 1980s which caused a million of Salvadorans to emigrate to USA and settle there as refugees. These immigrants in USA faced a bitter opposition from the Mexican gangs formed by other immigrants settled there earlier which prompted the Salvadorans to form their own gang for defending their existence. But soon the gang expanded and became the largest gang symbolizing violence and barbarism to their peak. "Composed of mostly Salvadorans and other central Americans-many of them undocumented -the gang has a uniquely international profile It's considered the fastest growing, most violent and least understood of the nation's street gangs" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7244879/site/newsweek). Unlike other gangs the members of MS-13 are very flexible in their activities. They are into various fields of crimes specializing in extortions, drug and arm trafficking, homicides, cross border human trafficking, theft and so on. "Mara Salvatrucha members have tattoes on most of their upper body, including the arms and face, with lettering done in Gothic (Blackletter) style. The "MS" and "13" is always tattooed on them. (This has resulted in the arrest and detention of many people, first in Honduras then in El Salvador for illicit association based entirely on the fact that they are wearing tattoos associated with gang membership) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_Salvatrucha). The members of MS-13 are relatively fearless compared to other gangs and shows zero tolerance to the persons who became informant to the cops about their misdeeds. Even they act defiantly without being intimidated by the law enforcement officials easily. The members who abandons the gang is brutally killed by other active members. They impose rent on the people in the locality in which they live in lieu of guarranty of the security of the locals from the threats of other gangs. They are quite adept at using exlosives, firearms and grenades. Having been trained in guerilla warfare the MS-13 members frequently change their places

Human Resource Policy and Actions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Resource Policy and Actions - Essay Example Founded in 1924, Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK market as well as the largest UK-based international supermarket chain with 1,780 stores in the UK and 586 outlets internationally. The company which originally focused on food retailing has now expanded into retailing of clothing, household electronics, financial services, the Internet, and telecommunications. With over 1780 stores spread across the UK and a strong presence in Ireland and a host of other countries, with its 586 international outlets, Tesco employes 367,000 employees in its global operations with 250,000 of them based in the UK. With annual sales revenue of more than  £37bn and a pre-tax profit report of  £2bn, the Tesco is the market leader accounting for 30% of the total UK retail market (Paton 2005). Gap Analysis of Human Resource Practices at Tesco Plc In a massive scale business operation as Tesco, the management of human resource becomes a very challenging task. Key functions of HRM which includes the HR Forecasting, Job Analysis and Specifications, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Performance Appraisal, Reward systems, Termination procedures and management of Employee Relations need to be updated and modified to suit the changing business environmental conditions (Bratten & Gold 1999). Organizations, which adopt a dynamic approach to its managerial process, will realize the need for assessing existing practices and identifying the gap areas, which needs to be addressed through implementation of effective HRM principles.

Child Care from a Licensed Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Child Care from a Licensed Center - Essay Example All of these institutions are looking after the children ´s welfare. To obtain a license to operate the child center has to be located in a safe place. It needs to have clean facilities: kitchen, bathroom, play area, instructional area, equipment, and toys. The personnel involved should meet the minimum requirements to care for the children and the children have to have a balanced and nutritional diet.  For the baby sitter there are no particular guidelines. She or he may be a family member, a neighbor, a friend, or someone who recommended the babysitter. The babysitter does not have to have a degree. The babysitter does not have to have a clean place or supply a nutritional diet. In many cases, if the payment is made to the baby sitter to include meals, she or he will buy what they think will be sufficient depending on their budget. In the case where the parents supply the meals in addition to the babysitter payments, it may usually a brown bag depending on the parent ´s budge t.  I prefer to have my nephews and nieces to be cared by a licensed child care center because the probabilities of being safe are greater than if they are taken care of non-specialized personnel. The nutritional factor carries weight in their formative years and in their healthy development. There have been instances where safety is an issue, however, with the constant supervision of qualified personnel the odds are less.  I have had the experience of having my nephews and nieces cared for at a licensed child care center.

Team Project Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Team Project Experience - Essay Example This role offered me an opportunity to explore and exercise my leadership skills. The role gave me a chance to take part in the project from the time the project was set up to the end. Usually, these duties begin in the second stage of the project but I got an opportunity to participate from the beginning as a member of the team that floated the first ideas for the project. Through this, I understood the project in full. The advantage that came with taking this responsibility is that as a member of the team I got the chance to participate in the project from start to finish. A holder of this position drove the project from the implementation stage to completion. My duties during project implementation included among others preparation of the project management plan that began with stage three (Chermack 2011). Risk assessment in addition to planning the mitigation aspects were my roles that I performed well during the process. These functions fell under my overall jurisdiction of lead ing the project team to achieve set objectives following through set targets at every stage. The responsibility was also enthusiastic, as I made sure that team members comprehended their assigned responsibilities. As an evaluation aspect, the manager monitored performance against the original plan. This helped in eliminating leakages and shielding the project from slipping out of the original plan. ... Good communication skills supplemented this strength. This happened in an honest and clear manner while maintaining respect among all team members. A good team player is a good listener, this aided in the effective functioning of the team (Tuckman and Jensen 1977). Coordination was product of good communication that included open and clear communication channels. I injected this personality into the team and it effectively helped the efficiency of working as a team. Among other strengths, I was flexible and this was important for a team member as the team often worked under changing conditions. Personal professional qualities Team projects run on deliverables and deadlines. Professional qualities that I brought into the team for the role-played included the element of cohesiveness that augmented the skills and other qualities possessed by other members. I acquired these skills in extra weekend classes offered at the extra mural studies centre. As a member of the team who preferred th e role of a project manager, I demonstrated leadership qualities in the team and this was crucial in underlying the essence of cohesiveness. Experience showed that the effectiveness of this quality served well for the team as members enjoyed good communication and sound conflict resolution mechanisms. As a project manager, I initiated the strength deployment inventory (SDI) that raised the need for the team to work together cohesively. It also offered opportunities for team members to draft successful working relationships (Nagarajan 2005). Through this, members of the project team learnt motivational areas of their colleagues. This knowledge enhanced the alignment of the members to the project goals. Clear understanding of project roles and awareness of skills of team

Patriarchy in daily life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Patriarchy in daily life - Essay Example This is majorly due to the sharia, which outlines and controls the way a Muslim woman should be accustomed to live her life (Elwazer and Maktabi). Sharia rules in this institution have clearly spelt out between the difference between men’s and women’s roles, obligations, and rights. For instance, women are not allowed to be behind the wheels or women cannot leave the house without informing their husbands. Saudi Arabia is without doubt a patriarchal institution evidenced by the numerous legislation that has been enacted to give men an upper hand in almost all decisions that affect their women. The article reveals how women in the society are mandated to stay at home leaving them exclusively dependent on their men. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is also among the few states that lacks female legislators. Solely their male counterparts, conforming to definition of patriarchy, do all laws being enacted in parliament. Similarly, women have to have their husband consensus on issues such as family planning. Furthermore, like many other Islamic states, the article indicate how women face restrictions in education opportunities and only promote. Patriarchy is still profound in the society, which is revealed by the oppression that Muslim women

Child Care from a Licensed Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Child Care from a Licensed Center - Essay Example All of these institutions are looking after the children ´s welfare. To obtain a license to operate the child center has to be located in a safe place. It needs to have clean facilities: kitchen, bathroom, play area, instructional area, equipment, and toys. The personnel involved should meet the minimum requirements to care for the children and the children have to have a balanced and nutritional diet.  For the baby sitter there are no particular guidelines. She or he may be a family member, a neighbor, a friend, or someone who recommended the babysitter. The babysitter does not have to have a degree. The babysitter does not have to have a clean place or supply a nutritional diet. In many cases, if the payment is made to the baby sitter to include meals, she or he will buy what they think will be sufficient depending on their budget. In the case where the parents supply the meals in addition to the babysitter payments, it may usually a brown bag depending on the parent ´s budge t.  I prefer to have my nephews and nieces to be cared by a licensed child care center because the probabilities of being safe are greater than if they are taken care of non-specialized personnel. The nutritional factor carries weight in their formative years and in their healthy development. There have been instances where safety is an issue, however, with the constant supervision of qualified personnel the odds are less.  I have had the experience of having my nephews and nieces cared for at a licensed child care center.

Patriarchy in daily life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Patriarchy in daily life - Essay Example This is majorly due to the sharia, which outlines and controls the way a Muslim woman should be accustomed to live her life (Elwazer and Maktabi). Sharia rules in this institution have clearly spelt out between the difference between men’s and women’s roles, obligations, and rights. For instance, women are not allowed to be behind the wheels or women cannot leave the house without informing their husbands. Saudi Arabia is without doubt a patriarchal institution evidenced by the numerous legislation that has been enacted to give men an upper hand in almost all decisions that affect their women. The article reveals how women in the society are mandated to stay at home leaving them exclusively dependent on their men. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is also among the few states that lacks female legislators. Solely their male counterparts, conforming to definition of patriarchy, do all laws being enacted in parliament. Similarly, women have to have their husband consensus on issues such as family planning. Furthermore, like many other Islamic states, the article indicate how women face restrictions in education opportunities and only promote. Patriarchy is still profound in the society, which is revealed by the oppression that Muslim women

Applied linguistics Essay Example for Free

Applied linguistics Essay Linguistics, though one of the youngest behavioral sciences, has a background extending over several millennia. During this period scholars with various interests have concerned themselves with language. Some of the most readable treatises on language were produced by the Greeks and Romans, such as Plato’s Cratylus and Quintilian’s advice to an orator. Much of our terminology was devised in the course of this earlier concern. Any of introductions to linguistic cannot, therefore, limit itself to one school; rather it must present the general principles applied in the study of language. A knowledge of earlier studies of languages in particularly important at a time when the vigorous transformationalist school has affirmed its relationship with traditional grammar. Any discipline is based on earlier work, though scientific schools are rarely capable of advancing their subject on all fronts. Thus, nineteenth-century linguistics made particular advances in phonetics and historical linguistics. In the first four decades of this century linguistics contribute especially to refinements in phonological theory, while collecting data on exotic languages. Subsequent linguistics have devoted themselves especially to syntactic study and to the interrelations between linguistics and other behavioral sciences. Since the tempo of scientific research is being speeded up, it is not surprising that the transformationalist school is already becoming fragmented, with some of this member focusing on semantic study. This century therefore has seen a shift in emphasis from phonological to syntactic to semantic studies. At the same time, linguistics has become closely involved with the sciences specializing in human behavior. It is difficult to present in an elementary text all of the concerns of linguistics. Moreover, since linguistics is an empirical science, any elementary text must include a great deal of linguistic data, that is, examples of spoken language. The data included must be taken from the native languages of students. For a pedagogical treatment one must select material carefully because of the richness of language; therefore data from other languages can only be given as supplements to that of English. But students should use every opportunity to collect and study data from other languages as they acquired adequate techniques for assembling and analyzing linguistic material. In order to gain control of linguistics, the data of language must first 1. 1Aims for descriptive linguistics Descriptive linguistics aims to provide an understanding of language by analyzing in its various uses. Generally descriptive linguists deal with one language at a specific time, such as contemporary English. But to gain perspective, they also examine others, preferably those having different structures, such as Chinese, which lacks all inflections, or Japanese, which adds inflections in a regular manner, or Eskimo, which may combine the entities of a sentence into a word-like sequence. Linguists also draw on studies of human behavior; psychology for an understanding of the mental processes involved in the use of language; anthropology and sociology for an understanding of man’s behavior in the contexts in which man uses language and from pertinent fields of other sciences are formulated in grammars. This book is an introduction to the aims and procedures of descriptive linguistics, presenting at the same time some of the contributions of that study to the understanding of language. Like other behavioral sciences-for example, anthropology-linguistics is confronted with two major task is to acquire an understanding of the various languages spoken today or at any time in the history of man. To achieve an understanding of any one language is a great task, as the inadequacy of our grammars many indicate. Providing descriptions of the 5,000 or so languages in use today, as well as future; we may illustrate the extent of the work that needs to be done by noting that the most widely translated book, the Bible, has been translated into only just over a thousand languages. Many of these languages are little known; others are almost completely obscure. But even without knowledge of many languages and with only a seriously inadequate understanding of many others, linguistics must set out to fulfill task number two; to comprehend language as a phenomenon. This second task of linguistics will be our main concern. We will illustrate the aims and procedures involved in carrying out this task by talking our examples primarily from one language, English. As in most linguistic studies, the unit of language selected for linguistic analysis here is the sentence. Speakers of every language speak in sentences and interpret sentences as units. If they are literate, that is, if they display language by means of writing, they divide these units into segments; any English sentence is marked off first by punctuation marks, and is then broken up into words, which are further segmented into letters. Linguists also analyze sentences into smaller segments, as we will see, but with greater rigor than the general speaker. The aim of this linguistic analysis is to understand how speakers construct and interpret any selected sentence and eventually to account for language as a phenomenon of human behavior. Speakers of a language have the remarkable capability of constructing and interpreting sentences they have never encountered before. The sentence A machine chose the chords may have been produced here for the first time; yet no speaker of English has any difficulty interpreting it. Linguistics seeks to determinate the basis of this capability. In carrying out such study, a linguist is investigating human behavior. Linguistics is, accordingly, a behavioral science. Like other scientists, a linguistic limits his concern. A full understanding of any sentence would involve some knowledge of man’s mental processes-how language is stored in the brain, how it is perceived, how it is directed by the brain. Understanding any sentence would also involve knowledge of the society in which the sentence is produced-how for example; any speaker could assert that a nonanimate machine might select some arrangement of tones called a chord. These requirements for understanding language in detail call on so many sciences-biology, psychology, anthropology, sociology, among others-that specialties haven arisen within linguistics itself, notably phonetics, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics. Thorough linguistic descriptions are fundamental to all such specialties, and accordingly descriptive linguistics is the basic discipline of linguistics. In descriptive linguistics various procedures have been devised to arrive at grammars, that is, to produce descriptions of a given language. For most purposes a linguist deals with the sounds of a sentence, using earlier example A machine chose the chords may indicate why the linguist uses transcriptions. Through various historical accidents the spelling sequence ch is used for three different sounds in this sentence: as in sheen; as in catch; [k] as in kiss. Unless a linguistic description identified these different sounds, an investigator of speech perception would be misled. As the transcription indicates, a linguist may also note a vocal patterning of the words that is different from a written patterning of the words. The indefinite article a may be as closely linked in speech to the syllable as is the second syllable of machine; the plural suffix in chords is [z] after [d], rather than [s] as after [t] in courts. In studying relationships of this kind, a linguist is not simply trying to sort out sounds, but he is also trying to determine segments that are grammatically significant. But like all scientists he must limit his goals and deal with one problem at time. As John R. Firth says: The study of the living voice of a man in action is a very big job indeed. In order to be able to handle it at all, we must split up the whole integrated behavior patter we call speech, and apply specialized techniques to the description and classification of these so-called elements of speech we detach by analysis. This book is an introduction to such techniques. In keeping with Firth’s statement, it presents these techniques in a sequence determined by pedagogical principles. Students acquiring these techniques must not assume that the sequence in which these principles are presented reflects directly the structure of language. In many ways Chapters 1 to 7 may be viewed as preliminary; a knowledge of their contents is essential for an understanding of the subsequent chapters, which deal with the procedures by which linguists attempt to understand language as a â€Å"whole integrated behavior pattern†. 1. 2The study of Language as a System of Symbols To achieve an understanding of any language, we rely heavily on an examination of our own language. But to put our own language into perspective, we need to contrast it with one or more other languages; for this purpose in this book we will primarily use Japanese. To survey the procedures of a linguist, we may examine any simple utterance, such as â€Å"Could you please tell me where the station is? † This sentence could be pronounced slowly or rapidly, with some effect on the transcription; we may record one utterance of it as 1. 2. 1Historical Linguistics We could study the sentence â€Å"Could you please tell me where the station is? † in two ways, either by examining its construction or the history of its components. If we were interested in a historical approach, we would note the form of the component tell, for example, in order English, which would be Middle English tellen, Old English tellan. We could relate Old English tellan to Old High German zellan, which became New High German zahlen ‘count‘, and even to other forms. Through such comparison we would note (1) differences in sound: English t versus German ts; (2) differences in form: English tell with no infinitive; (3) differences in meaning: Contemporary English tell is no longer used with the meaning ‘count’, as the German verb is, though (bank) teller preserves this meaning. The study of the development of language is referred to as historical linguistics. Historical linguistics presupposes a thorough description of the stages of development of the languages being studied. For example, a historical grammar of English is based on descriptive grammars of Old and Middle English as well as New English. Descriptive linguistics is therefore a prerequisite for historical linguistics. 1. 2. 2Descriptive Linguistics Dealing with the sentence â€Å"Could you please tell me where the station is? † we note again the inadequacy of the English spelling system for indicating the actual sounds of the language. On the one hand, the symbol e represents various sounds, as in please, tell, me, where. On the other hand, the same sound is spelled differently, as in please, me; the station. Moreover, there are important signals, such as the variations in stress, indicated by [‘? ~], and in pitch, indicated by, which are not represented in the English spelling system. Accordingly a transcription is essential. For Japanese as shorter comparable sentence is: For the Japanese sentence a transcription is even more essential than for English. Since conventional transliteration systems are close to usable transcriptions, we may follow one of these, the Hepburn system, in citing Japanese. Transliterated according to the principles of the Hepburn system, the sentence reads â€Å"Teishajo wa doko desu ka†. Comparing these two sentences, we can equate segments in English with those in Japanese. Any such segments that are recorded as independent entities in dictionaries we can call words. Of the English and Japanese segments station corresponds to â€Å"teishajo†, where to â€Å"doko†, and so on. The words station and â€Å"teishajo† are clearly oral symbols that correspond to things in the world around us. In somewhat the same way, all language consists of symbols. Japanese â€Å"doko† ‘what place’ is a noun, virtually as concrete as is station. But where we feel is less concrete; we interpret it not as a symbol with reference to things in the world around us but rather with reference to a set of possibilities in the linguistic system. An even less concrete symbol is the English pattern of pitch, as marked by which corresponds to the following contour: This intonation pattern contrasts with others, such as one with a final rise, which corresponds to the following contour: In the contrasting set of English intonations indicates that the speaker is marking a serious statement; indicates that the speaker is making a serious statement; indicates that he is expressing doubt. If someone asks the question â€Å"Where is the station† using the intonation pattern, he is seriously concerned with obtaining the information. If he uses the pattern, he shows incredulity; the meaning is? ‘Or how could you ask me where the station is? (We’re standing right in front of it. ). ’ The intonation pattern is then a symbol, much like a word. Other symbols are even less concrete, such as word order. The arrangement â€Å"You could tell me† contrasts with â€Å"Could you tell me†, and the contrast in order symbolizes different meanings to speakers of English. In this way language consists of symbols, some of which may be readily related to things in the outside world, other merely to other potential patterns in the language. It is through such symbolization that we can use language to communicate. Through symbolization language has meaning. 1. 3Symbols Determined by Relationships We have noted above that the functions of symbols are determinate by their relationships to other entities in the system. The meaning of station is circumscribed by other words possible in the same context: airport, school, supermarket, and so on. The meaning of â€Å"Could you tell me† is circumscribed by other possible arrangements, such as â€Å"You could tell me†, and so on. Throughout language the functions of symbols and the significance of linguistic entities are determined by their relationships to other entities in that language. And example from the simplest segment of language, its sound system, may provide an illustration. In English we have a variety of t sounds. Initially before stressed words, as in top, t is followed by a puff air; the typical pronunciation could be transcribed. After s as in stop there is no such puff of air, and the typical pronunciation could be transcribed. In spite of this difference in sounds speakers of English consider the two entities the same; in Chinese or Hindi, on the other hand, and are considered different. Identification in each of these languages results from the interrelationships of the sounds with others in the same language. In English and never occur in the same environment. There is on the one hand no word. (A preceding asterisk is used in linguistic texts to indicate entities that are not attested. ) There is also no English word. In contrast with some languages, such as Chinese and Hindi, the two sounds and never distinguish words in English. For this reason English speakers are not aware of any difference between the ts of top and stop. The two sounds are classed together in one set; they are varying members, or allophones, of the same phoneme, or sound class. The significance of two ts for the speakers results from their relationships in the English sound system rather than from the physical differences themselves. Japanese provides a further illustration. It too has a [t] sound in its phonological system, as we may illustrate with the brusque imperative from mate ‘wait’. But if the t stands before u, as in the indicative matsu, it is followed by an [s], in much the same way that the t of top is followed by an [h]. To understand the Japanese change of [t] to, you can compare the English pronunciation with for nature. For the Japanese the two sounds belong in one class; a Japanese speaker is no more aware of the physical difference between the two sounds and than an English speaker is of the difference between and. Again, the important consideration is relationship. A Japanese speaker always uses before [u], never; on the other hand, he always uses before [e a o], never. What seems different in another language is classed as the same because of relationships. In support of this statement about the patterning of languages we may note the behavior of speakers when they hear a different language. As with many terms referring to sports and recreation, Japanese borrowed touring from British English. Hearing the vowel as u, they interpreted the word as. From within their own phonological system the relationships between [t] and are such that they are exchanged automatically because of the following vowel. These examples of the role of sounds in language may illustrate how a symbolic system has values determined by relationships rather than by physical entities. The relationships, to be sure, are linked to physical entities. But from the externals alone, or, as they are often called, the overt, or surface, phoneme, we do not determine the value or the significance of the entities. Since the value depends on interrelationships that are not obvious on the surface of language, we refer to the essence of language or of any symbolic system as its deep or underlying structure. In examining languages as symbolic systems, comparisons are often made with simple communication systems, such as traffic signals. In these relationships are determined by color: Red means ? stop? , yellow ‘caution’, green ‘go’. Other characteristics of a given system of traffic signals are noncentral: Some systems have red above green; some have a larger lamp for red; the exact hue of red, yellow, or green may vary. Drivers take their signals from none of these nonessentials but rather from the relationships between the three colors; those of longest wavelength are interpreted to mean ? stop? , whether they are exactly 700 millmicrons in length, or whether the number of millimicrons varies slightly. In the same way a speaker of English identifies tin by its difference from pin, kin, thin, sin, and so on. The entities of language that convey meaning are called morphemes, units of from. The values of morphemes are determined by their relationships in any given language. English has a contrast between could and will, which yields a different meaning in â€Å"Could you please tell me? † as opposed to â€Å"Will you tell me? † The meanings may be determined from the patterns in which these morphemes occur. But again, relationships are central. We do not say *Must you please tell me? Although the sequence â€Å"Must you tell me? † is possible. The impossibility is determined by the relationships between please and must, which simply cannot co-occur in questions. It may be difficult to specify the meaning of must and please in order to demonstrate why they cannot co-occur in such sentence. But a native speaker of English simply does not form such a sentence. He knows the possible relationships of each word, and these relationships do not permit such a combined use of must and please in questions. In this way the word relationships determine their meanings. In sum, the meaning of any entity in a symbolic system results from its relationships with other entities; the total of such entities and their values make up a symbolic system used for communication, or a language. As with traffic signals, the reference of the entities is determined by agreement in a social group using the same language. In natural language the agreement results from convention. When we acquire our language, we learn the uses of its morphemes and words. But a symbolic system using other entities and other conventions may also be devised. Examples can be found in the colors of heraldry, which retain their meanings for flags, or in a selection of flowers, which has meaning in literary works such as Shakespeare’s. A simple example is given in Longfellow’s poem on Paul Revere. Two meaningful symbols were prearranged: One lantern in the church tower meant that the enemy was coming by land; two lanterns meant that they were coming by sea. Using lanterns, a symbolic system consisting of two entities, would be cumbersome; after the system’s single use Revere’s system was maintained only in literary tradition. But for a computer two entities, a positive and a negative charge, permit a sophisticated communication system; for these entities can be manipulated somewhat more readily than lanterns. In this way, symbolic systems of various types may be devised to effectively convey meaning for specific purposes. Human systems, in spite of surface differences that provide obstacles to communication, are alike in using entities of sound in various arrangements to convey meaning. To understand the operation of language, we must apply procedures that permit the discovery and description of, first, the surface structures of language and, second deep structures or underlying principles of language. An introduction to descriptive linguistics must discuss these procedures, although it is chiefly directed at indicating the results obtained in using them and at discovering the principles underlying language as a whole. 1. 4Discovery Procedures of Linguistics In setting out to describe any language, a linguistic collects a sample of data. His usable date make up a corpus, which he then analyzes for its entities of sound, form, and meaning. Since the phonological analysis is simplest to discuss, we deal with it first here to demonstrate linguistic method. In our illustration we may start with the earlier example â€Å"Could you please tell me where the station is? † To determinate entities in a given language, a linguist selects such sentence patterns, or frames, and explores various possible substitutions, for in determining possible substitutions, he determines the significant relationships. In order to be certain of avoiding error, the linguist should use entire sentences, for example, â€Å"Would you please tell me† versus â€Å"Could you please tell me? † or â€Å"Could they please tell me† versus â€Å"Would they please tell me? † and so on. But manipulating entire sentences is cumbersome; accordingly linguists generally use single words and look for contrasts among them. They are particularly concerned with pairs of words, such as pin versus bin. Any two words, or sequences, contrasting phonologically in only one item are called a minimal pair. In beginning an analysis of a new language, therefore, a linguist may point to objects, write down the phonological notation for them, and then proceed to describe the system of relationships he has found. Or if the informant, that is, the native speaker, is bilingual and the linguist knows one of the languages, he may use a list of everyday words to elicit the words of the unknown language. A simple substitution English frame may be taken from win. Segmenting from this frame the element ____________in, a linguist may attempt to find all possible sequences of initial consonant. For English he would eventually find the set in Figure 1: Figure 1 Since the initial entities contrast with one another, also in other substitution frames, such as ____at, they may be interpreted to be significant. The frame ______at in Figure 2 would provide further significant entities. Figure 2 As these words and the blank spaces suggest, eventually twenty-four contrasting consonants would be found for English. To describe these, their uses, and the sounds of any language, a linguist must deal with the study of speech sounds in general. This study is known as phonology. If the linguist deal with Arabic, for â€Å"Where is the station? † he might be given the sentence ‘the station where? ’ In this sentence he notes sounds that are not significant in English: [? ], the glottal stop;, a pharyngeal spirant; and the underlined sounds. To be prepared to deal with the sounds encountered in any language, a linguist must have a general understanding of speech sounds. The study of speech sounds is known as phonemics. Phonetics and phonemics make up the two subdivisions of phonology. In addition to sounds and phonemes a linguist looks for contrasts of form in language. An answer to the question â€Å"Could you please tell me where the station is?† might be Take the street over there. Another answer might be: This bus takes you directly to it. Examining such contrasts, a linguist finds sets like take, takes, took, taken, taking and compares them with similar sets, such as pass, passes, passed, passed, passing; sag, sags, sagged, sagged, sagging. Analyzing these, he finds central forms _____take; pass, sag ___and varying elements, for example, s, n, ing. There is a fundamental difference between phonemes and these elements, for the latter carry meaning. We cannot, for example, state meanings for the two elements of win ____w and in. But we can for take, pass, or sag, and for the following s, which has the meaning ‘third person singular subject’. Such entities that have meaning are called morphs; a class of morphs is a morpheme. For example, {Z} is the third singular present morpheme in English. Morphemes may have varying members, or allomorphs, like in passes, [S] in takes, and [Z] in sags. In studying the morphemes of language we must determine the entities and their arrangements. As for such study in phonology, we find suitable frames and determine entities that may occur in them, for example: A machine chose the chords. An accompanist chose the chords. A director chose the chords A machine chooses the chords. I choose the chords. Clearly, a language contains many more morphemes than phonemes. The study of morphemes is therefore highly complex. Various labels have also been given to the study of morphemes and their arrangements. The study of the forms themselves is often called morphology but also morphemics. The study of the arrangements of morphemes, words, and phrases in sentences is called syntax. A name used by some linguists for referring to both is grammar. But there are problems with these labels. The terms â€Å"grammar† is widely used to include phonology as well as morphology and â€Å"syntax†. For some linguists the two labels seem to have separated forms and their arrangements unnecessarily. Some linguists then use the name â€Å"syntax† as a label for both the study of forms and their arrangements. Because of these differences in usages, students will have to determine the use of these terms among individual linguists. In this book â€Å"grammar† will be used as a general term to embrace the study of sounds, or phonology, and forms, or morphology, and  their arrangements, or syntax. Morphology, as is traditional, will refer to two types of study of forms: inflection, which deals with the changes in large closely structured sets of words, such as the parts of speech; and derivation, which deals with smaller, less readily definable sets, for example, retake, takeoff, and so on. The elements detached and described in phonology are merely markers of meaning; those detached and described in morphology are carriers of meaning. Additional procedures are necessary to deal with meaning. These procedures are traditionally applied to words, which are defined for their meaning and listed in dictionaries or lexicons. Yet dictionaries primarily list synonyms, defining one word in terms of another, for example, horse as ‘Equus-caballus’, or where appropriate, though illustrations. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary includes illustrations to help define horse and other selected items, such as soup plate. But the illustrations are limited; there is none, for instance, for antelope. And for some words, for example, abstraction, dictionaries would fins illustrations difficult. Moreover, dictionaries do not deal with meanings conveyed through differences in intonation, for example, Horse? Horse! To deal with meaning in a general way, as is done with sounds, some universal criteria must be devised, such as features of meaning found in many languages. Some features of meaning are animateness or nonanimateness, human or nonhuman, male or female, and so on. If semantic features like these were used in definitions, users of a dictionary would not need to know the language for which it is written to determine meanings. The dictionary would accordingly be more general but also more abstract than are contemporary dictionaries. Semantic analysis for features parallels widely used phonological study of this kind, but it is just in its beginnings. We do not yet know whether there is a set of semantic features that universal in all languages. When such analyses, whether for sounds, forms, or meanings, are carried out, they must be done separately for each language. We have noted that corresponds to a phoneme in Chinese and Hindi, but in English it is only a variant of /t/ before stressed vowels. As another example we may note Italian . This is found in Italian before [g] as in lungo ‘long’ _____compare the in longer _____before [k] as in banca ___compare the in bank _____but not in other environments. Elsewhere, [n] is found. Accordingly in Italian is a variant of /n/. Its position in the Italian phonological system may be illustrated from the behavior of Italian speakers learning English. English words ending in, such as long and bang seem impossible for them, so they pronounce them with final [g], that is. To maintain the they moodily its phonological environment so that it is the same as in Italian. An example from syntax to illustrate the necessity of analyzing each language for its structure may be supplied by German. In German the sentence I see your car is â€Å"Ich sehe Ihren Wagen†. Comparing the two, one may assume that in both languages the verb (see and sehe) follows the subject when the latter is initial in sentences. But from modified forms of the sentence, such as I often see his car and If I see his car, the different syntactic principle of German becomes clear, for these sentences must read â€Å"Oft sehe ich seinen Wagen† and â€Å"Wenn ich seinen Wagen sehe†. These sentences demonstrate that the principles of word order in German are quite different from those in English; the position of the verb is not related to that of the subject but rather to other possible entities in clauses. In German independent declarative clauses the verb stands in second place, but in German subordinative clauses, it stands at the end. Accordingly the arrangement if the forms, and their significance, must be determined separately for English and German, as for every other language. Each language must be investigated independently for its patters of syntax as well as its phonological characteristics. Similarly, meaning relationships must be determined separately for each language. English know corresponds to German â€Å"kennen† when it has an animate object, to â€Å"wissen† when it has an inanimate object, and to â€Å"konnen† when the object is a skill, like a language. We cannot equate English know with these, just as we cannot equate English with Italian. Because of this property of language, we must analyze each language in terms of its own structure. 1. 5Formulation of Results: Display of Description In the course of the study of language the formulation of descriptions has become increasingly compact and precise. Before the development of linguistics sounds of language were often presented in alphabetical order in grammars in the Western tradition. But contemporary descriptions of language follow a linguistic format. Vowels are not listed in the sequence a, e, I, o, u but rather in accordance with a chart reflecting their linguistic significance. The consonants also are presented in accordance with their articulation: the labials p and b, dentals t and d, velars k and g, and so on, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 for _____in and ______at. Similarly, the syntax of a language is presented systematically and compactly. Rather than discursive statements like â€Å"A sentence is made up of a subject and a predicate†, a compact formula may be given, for example:. These formulas are called rules. For the initiated they make a description very precise; the symbolization, however, must be mastered, particularly the abbreviations and the use of signs to indicate relationships. Such grammatical formats may resemble mathematical essays. Yet the information in the rules, however compact, simply corresponds to descriptions presented in more discursive grammars. Far more fundamental than such externals is the underlying design of a grammar.

Zimbabwe Country Debt and Economic Performance

Zimbabwe Country Debt and Economic Performance Overview The debate on the effect and direction of causality regarding debt on economic growth has attracted significant academic interest since the last quarter of the 20th century. This question has become more relevant in the context of the so-called Least Developed Countries (LDCs) whose economies typically contain oversized debt, exhibit stunted growth and have often defaulted on outstanding debt. This research sought to build on the existing body of literature and conditions in Zimbabwe over the past 20 years, with special reference on the period 1995 to 2008, and draw inferences on the role that debt played in Zimbabwes economic performance over the same period. This chapter sets the stage for the study through reviewing the background to the research study, outlining the problem statement, discussing research objectives and methods among other things. The framework introduced and described herein shall be expanded on application in the later stages of the research project and any necessary adjustments will be incorporated. The chapter, by outlining in advance the research expectations, forms the basis upon which the outcome and conclusions of the research shall be assessed. Background of Zimbabwes Debt Zimbabwe just like any other Less Developed Economies (LIC) has relied on both external and domestic finance to fund its developmental projects. External debt comprise foreign currency denominated liabilities owed to non-resident entities, in the form of both medium to long-term loans and short-term trade facilities, while domestic debt is debt owed to residents and is contracted mainly through issuing treasury bills and bonds as well as utilization of the overdraft window at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). The country has not been able to pay its external and domestic obligations for sometime against the background of progressive decline in export performance and the depletion of the foreign currency reserves. The meagre foreign currency resources available have been allocated towards critical social needs such as education and health delivery systems. Consequently, the countrys ability to settle obligations has been severely undermined culminating in accumulation of external payment arrears to US$4 487 million as at 31 December 2009. This represents a more than 60% increase over the 2000 figure of $2.75 billion. This coincides with a period when the economy had entered into a sustained phase of economic decline and hyperinflation. It is argued that debt overhang has been a stumbling block towards economic recovery initiatives of the country and has impacted negatively on the countrys international credit rating, a development which has been a major deterrent to potential foreign investment and credit inflows. The total debt has been growing from 1990 as shown in the graph hereunder: Fig. 1 Debt and GDP Trend for Zimbabwe Source: Data complied from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and The Ministry of Finance in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe has not been able to pay its debt obligations for nearly a decade from 1999 against the background of progressive decline in export performance and depletion of foreign currency reserves, due to restrictive measures imposed on the country. The total debt increased from $2.9 billion in 1990 to $6.9 billion in 2010 and the debt burden is a stumbling block towards economic recovery of the country and has impacted negatively on the countrys international credit rating, a development which has been a major deterrent to potential foreign investment and credit inflows. Against this backdrop, it is imperative that the country develop sustainable strategies to deal with the debt overhang problem. As at October 2010, the external debt stock was 118.4% of GDP, which is above international debt sustainability benchmark of 60%. Zimbabwe is in the process of drafting a cocktail of measures to expunge the debt obligations. A number of options which can be implemented to deal with the debt burden are, (a) Equity Anchored Debt Resolution which involves external new borrowing by the country to retire the totality or part of external debt, using identified public assets as collateral, (b) Brady plan where Zimbabwe can engage other nations who can guarantee its securitized debt, (c) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Backed Debt Clearance Strategy which is a strategy designed to clear Zimbabwes debt and debt arrears without direct and immediate payment by Government of Zimbabwe, (d) Debt re-scheduling, and (e) Heavily Indebted Poor country (HIPC) Initiative which is a debt reduction strategy for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF, and World Bank supported adjustment and reform programs. The debate on the debt resolution issues in Zimbabwe has been taking place in the absence of a proper analytical background or framework that captures the real dynamics behind the debt issue. This research contributes to this critical discourse in Zimbabwe through providing that analytical and objective framework. Problem Statement Growing public debt is a worldwide phenomenon and it has become a common feature of the fiscal sectors of most of economies. Poor debt management and a permanent growth of the debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio may result in negative macroeconomic performance, like crowding out of investment, financial system instability, inflationary pressures, exchange rate fluctuations and more importantly adverse effects on economic growth. In fact the theoretical literature has summarized the following channels through which external and domestic debts affects growth negatively namely; debt overhang, liquidity constraint, fiscal effect, productivity suppression and reduction in human capital accumulation. There are also certain social and political implications of unsustainable debt burden. Persistent and high public debt calls for a large piece of budgetary resources for debt servicing. Consequently, the government is forced to cut allocations for other public services and it faces serious di fficulties in executing its electoral manifesto, if it has. While the negative effects of public debt are well documented, there is no consensus on the optimum impact and the direction of causality. Countries with better economic performance may also better deal with the public debt phenomenon. In fact higher economic growth in turn increases a countrys creditworthiness and this may attract more capital inflows. If the capital inflow is long term or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and the debt is applied towards enhancing the countrys productive capacity and capital accumulation, the impact of debt on economic growth will be positive. There have been several attempts to empirically assess the public debt-economic growth link, in the context of other antecedent variables mainly by using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). Most of the earlier empirical studies include a fairly standard set of domestic debt, policy and other exogenous explanatory variables and the majority found one or more debt variables to be significantly and negatively correlated with investment or growth (Krugman, 1988; Borensztein, 1990; Greene and Villanueva, 1991; Deshpande, 1997 and more recently Pattillo, Poisson, and Ricci, 2004). Among developing countries evidences supporting the debt overhang hypothesis features research from Iyoha (1996), Fosu (1999), Mbanga and Sikod (2001), Maureen (2001) and Clements, Bhattacharya, and Nguyen (2003). The rationale of this study was driven by the scant amount of research in developing nations investigating the link between public debt and growth taking into account the causality and endogeneity issues. Although there is a substantial literature on the impact of public debt on growth, relatively few studies have been conducted on a sample of developing economies exclusively and particularly for Africa, but the latter has remained one of the continents with the highest and worrying growing level of public debt. This research aims to analyze the impact of public debt on the economic growth of Zimbabwe over the period 1990-2000. This study is based on the small developing state, Zimbabwe, and it provide a good case study because as most low income countries, it has limited access to international capital markets and thus the impact of external debt and domestic debt on these economies can be different as compared to emerging market countries. Moreover external debt may have indirect effects through private and public investment through the debt overhang and crowding out effects. Further, one should also not ignore the indirect effects of debt accumulation and service through private investment (debt overhang) and public spending (crowding out). Thus given the possibility of endogeneity and important feedback effects, the research uses the dynamic time series analysis, namely a Vector Autoregressive framework. The motivation to use this framework is that it allows important insights on the role of public debt on, not only economic growth but ultimately on private and public investment as well. Statement of the Research Objectives To develop a pragmatic model to understand the relationship between national debt and economic performance To ascertain the relevance of debt in determining economic policy To establish critical benchmarks that developing countries can use to enhance bond markets. Key Research Questions What are the drivers for the level of debt in developing countries? What are the determinants of economic performance? What role do stocks, bonds and alternative asset classes play in resolving country debt? Are prescriptive models and or solutions on debt from developed economies workable for developing nations such as Zimbabwe? Hypothesis In undertaking this research, emphasis is to test the following hypothesis upon which the results of this study are based: Public debt has a negative influence on the economic performance of a country. Zimbabwes economic decline is attributed to heavy debt overhang. The alternative hypothesis of this study is as follows: Public debt does not have any influence in the economic performance of a country. Zimbabwes economic decline has no relationship with public debt. Definition of Terms Definitions form an integral part in the compilation of the research. The definition of terms given below, where used consistently in the entire research report. Public Debt this is defined as the total debt owed by the Central Government which include both domestic and external debt, Bloomsburg (2007). External Debt It refers to the part of a countrys debt that is owed to creditors who are not residents of the country, Bloomsburg (2007). In other words it refers to the obligations that are owed by residents to non-residents. Debt Service refers to the future debt repayments of both the principal and interest amount. Economic Performance refers to those issues dealing with the amount and value of money, wealth, debt, and investment, SDI (1996). It is the general outlook of the economy as measured by relevant economic indicators such as GDP/GDP per capita. Country Debt refers to total obligations owned by the country to non-residents. Debt Sustainability The OECD Economic Surveys (2002) define debt sustainability as the ability of government to service its borrowings, both internal and external without resorting to rescheduling or accumulation of arrears. Thus, debt is sustainable when it can be serviced without resorting to exceptional financing or a major correction in the future balance of income and expenditure. Debt sustainability relates to the assessment of the level of debt that can be serviced without resorting to exceptional financing or a major correction in the future balance of income and expenditure. Research Design The type of research design adopted is both experimental and correlational in nature. The study will triangulate correlation and qualitative aspect to increase the degree of control over factors reviewed. The specific focus on Zimbabwe draws understanding of the study as a case study. Robson (2002:178) defines a case study as, a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between variables, in this instance, developing country debt and economic performance. The degree of control on factor variables in this research will clearly be moderate as the role of environmental influence and human perception will relatively be inconsistent. Secondary Research (Correlational Research). To assess the empirical relationship between the major variables, that is debt and economic growth, the research makes extensive use of econometric modeling. The modeling stage incorporates other variables, which although not underlying the core objective of the relationship being analysed, are considered relevant explanatory variables to the dependent variable. The causal effect among the variables is often indirect, has significant components of the feedback effect and exhibits elements of endogeneity. To account for this, the research uses dynamic time series analysis, namely a Vector Autoregressive framework. The motivation to use this framework is that it allows important insights on the role of public debt on, not only economic growth, but ultimately on private and public investment as well. Advance filtration of the modeling variables to enhance model purity and relevance is achieved through various forms of pre-modeling tests. The univariate properties of all data series are investigated to determine the degree to which they are integrated, provide valid statistical inference and avoid problems of spurious relationships. Both the augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) unit-roots tests will be employed for that purpose to show whether the variable are integrated of order 1 (I(1)) and thus stationary in difference. The time series characteristics of the data will be analysed by utilizing the statistical tools such as the R-squared, unit roots, the t-statistic, the probability value (p-value) and the Dubin Watson Statistic (DW statistic). Justification of the Vector Autoregressive Framework Public debt does not only affect growth a priori (that is in the expected negative effect on economic growth), but countries with better economic performance may also better deal with the external debt phenomenon. In fact higher economic growth in turn increases a countrys creditworthiness and this may attract more capital inflows. If the capital inflow is long term or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the need to borrow may decrease. Moreover external debt may have indirect effects through private and public investment through the debt overhang and crowding out effects. In addition, one should also not ignore the indirect effects of debt accumulation and service through private investment (debt overhang) and public spending (crowding out). Thus given the possibility of endogeneity and important feedback effects, we use dynamic time series analysis, namely a Vector Autoregressive Framework, to analyse the hypothesized link. Such a framework will allow important insights on the role of public debt not only on economic growth but ultimately on private and public investment as well. Significance of the Study. The envisaged modelling framework will provide debt managers in Zimbabwe and the region with an objective and efficient tool to analyse and cope with vulnerabilities in their public debt portfolio. This awareness shall be enhanced by the post-modeling user test and analysis performed as part of this research. The research focuses on country specific factors and seeks to contribute to the development of econometric modelling in Zimbabwe and comparable countries in the region. The precision of policy making and public finance management in Zimbabwe is severely weakened by lack of quantitative insights into the workings of the economy. Over the years, little or no attempt has been made to scientifically assess the impact of the countrys runaway debt on such variables as economic growth, provision of social services and Foreign Direct Investment flows. This research represents an important step towards addressing this dearth of analytical insight. Chapter Conclusion The above chapter highlighted the core research problem, research objectives, research questions and the research hypothesis adopted to develop econometric model output for this paper. In the following chapters the researcher shall review as follows: Chapter 2: The literature review Chapter 3: The methodology Chapter 4: Findings and detailed analysis of the Zimbabwean market Chapter 5: Conclusions Chapter 6: Recommendations