Concepts Of Absolute And Comparative Advantage

Let us take an example of two farmers who are producing the same type of commodities, which are ground nuts and maize, from the same size of farms. If the two farmers decide to devote all their efforts in producing maize, their farm outputs will be as follows: farmer A – 600 bags; and farmer B – 200 bags. If they allocate their resources well and produce ground nuts, their output will be as follows: farmer A – 300 bags, and farmer B – 200 bags. We can say that that farmer A enjoys absolute advantage in producing both maize and groundnuts than farmer B.The two farmers can however still benefit from each other through specialization and commodity exchange. Farmer A has a comparative advantage in producing maize while farmer B has comparative advantage in producing groundnuts due to opportunity cost of production in both farms. Based on current economic conditions, make one argument in favor of more government involvement in the economy and one argument in fa vor of less government involvement in the economy. For many governments, involvement in their respective economies is important.This is because the governments can ensure that producers are not exploited due to lack of market for their products in by enhancing trade with other countries. The governments will thus procure ready markets for that product in other countries, hence promoting the economy in their home countries. Moreover, governmental involvement in their countries’ economies is important because it can ensure that business activities are regulated for a free enterprise and competition. Governments may also fight corruption in private sectors to ensure that consumers are not exploited by the large producers and monopolies.Diminishing marginal utility explains a lot about human behavior. For example, it helps illuminate why diets fail, romances fade, too much exercise harms us, and many other things. Select a human behavior and construct a â€Å"mini case studyâ₠¬  that highlights the workings of marginal utility. Take an example one being thirsty and instead of drinking water, deciding to go to a nearby kiosk or shop to drink a cold soda. The first soda they get may be very good or appetizing until they decide to take another one. For the first soda taking, on a scale of ten, the person can even score ten out of ten.For the second soda, since they have somehow quenched their thirst, they can score five out of ten. If they continue to take another soda, they can even not finish it and now score two out of ten. Read the LAST Word piece â€Å"Financing Social Security† listed below. Of the alternative approaches to repairing social security, which do you think makes the most sense, and why? As part of your answer find a recent (less than a year old) article on the subject and cite it. The approach that makes the most sense is investing the payroll taxes through personal retirement account.This approach is important because it can impr ove the standard of living of employees in the future after they have retired from work. Employees will be able to properly structure their incomes besides being allowed to get used in future to any need during their time of retirement. They may thus either start their own business or incase of death arises; they can leave those funds for their families. An advantage of using this approach is that new employees, who will perhaps be earning low incomes as compared to the old employees, will have to contribute fewer taxes toward the security fund.They will however continue increasing their remittances as their payroll will continue to rise up. Those funds must also be deducted throughout one’s life until they retire from your job. People will thus start receiving the benefits of that scheme, or in case of they die, their spouses or dependants can enjoy that benefit. Another importance is that workers of any income level are allowed to contribute to this scheme and build nest eg gs for their families. Personal retirement accounts are voluntary and young workers have an opportunity to open and continue with them for future benefits which could be a worth a presentable sum of money. Concepts Of Absolute And Comparative Advantage Let us take an example of two farmers who are producing the same type of commodities, which are ground nuts and maize, from the same size of farms. If the two farmers decide to devote all their efforts in producing maize, their farm outputs will be as follows: farmer A – 600 bags; and farmer B – 200 bags. If they allocate their resources well and produce ground nuts, their output will be as follows: farmer A – 300 bags, and farmer B – 200 bags. We can say that that farmer A enjoys absolute advantage in producing both maize and groundnuts than farmer B.The two farmers can however still benefit from each other through specialization and commodity exchange. Farmer A has a comparative advantage in producing maize while farmer B has comparative advantage in producing groundnuts due to opportunity cost of production in both farms. Based on current economic conditions, make one argument in favor of more government involvement in the economy and one argument in fa vor of less government involvement in the economy. For many governments, involvement in their respective economies is important.This is because the governments can ensure that producers are not exploited due to lack of market for their products in by enhancing trade with other countries. The governments will thus procure ready markets for that product in other countries, hence promoting the economy in their home countries. Moreover, governmental involvement in their countries’ economies is important because it can ensure that business activities are regulated for a free enterprise and competition. Governments may also fight corruption in private sectors to ensure that consumers are not exploited by the large producers and monopolies.Diminishing marginal utility explains a lot about human behavior. For example, it helps illuminate why diets fail, romances fade, too much exercise harms us, and many other things. Select a human behavior and construct a â€Å"mini case studyâ₠¬  that highlights the workings of marginal utility. Take an example one being thirsty and instead of drinking water, deciding to go to a nearby kiosk or shop to drink a cold soda. The first soda they get may be very good or appetizing until they decide to take another one. For the first soda taking, on a scale of ten, the person can even score ten out of ten.For the second soda, since they have somehow quenched their thirst, they can score five out of ten. If they continue to take another soda, they can even not finish it and now score two out of ten. Read the LAST Word piece â€Å"Financing Social Security† listed below. Of the alternative approaches to repairing social security, which do you think makes the most sense, and why? As part of your answer find a recent (less than a year old) article on the subject and cite it. The approach that makes the most sense is investing the payroll taxes through personal retirement account.This approach is important because it can impr ove the standard of living of employees in the future after they have retired from work. Employees will be able to properly structure their incomes besides being allowed to get used in future to any need during their time of retirement. They may thus either start their own business or incase of death arises; they can leave those funds for their families. An advantage of using this approach is that new employees, who will perhaps be earning low incomes as compared to the old employees, will have to contribute fewer taxes toward the security fund.They will however continue increasing their remittances as their payroll will continue to rise up. Those funds must also be deducted throughout one’s life until they retire from your job. People will thus start receiving the benefits of that scheme, or in case of they die, their spouses or dependants can enjoy that benefit. Another importance is that workers of any income level are allowed to contribute to this scheme and build nest eg gs for their families. Personal retirement accounts are voluntary and young workers have an opportunity to open and continue with them for future benefits which could be a worth a presentable sum of money.

Cultural Issues in Esl

Cultural Issues in ESL One main issue with English being a second language is cultural differences. It brings great distress to most international students who are studying abroad because though they strive to learn with a higher level of excellence and performance, their cultures will always find a way to limit that ambition. It’s hard to be in a classroom with students who do not understand the culture from whence you came. It is also hard to understand your fellow classmates and teachers for they have their own cultures, some of which we might find very different. English is harder to learn when you are placed in that situation, for it is hard to get used to the culture at the same feeling the pressure of studies and socialization. The people in this category are mainly international or exchange students. Given the privilege to study abroad for a better education, these students are hard working and efficient. But the disadvantages are inevitable. There are cultures in their former school that their current school does not practice. Proper behavior, salutations, programs, and methods vary in different schools. Even in local schools, it is hard for some to practice English, because majority of the students’ families could possibly not have the complete knowledge of English, thus speaking incorrect grammar to their children, giving them a confusing perception in English. When materials in class are passed in English, those students who are used to different materials in their past schools have great difficulty in studying, thus making them seem stupid or lazy. In reality, they are just not used to this kind of culture and way of studying. The cultures in Asia are different from those in Europe and America. Culture is a beautiful thing when you see different ones all around the world, but in terms of English being a culture’s second language, it is pretty complicated to attain and retain. The religions, cultural backgrounds, and language barriers each have its own way of communicating in the local land but unfortunately English is still a major problem in most countries when these cultural differences are shared. As it was studied, there has been a vast improvement though in some countries in Asia such as Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Not everyone has learned all there is to know, but English is already taken as a second language, next to the other dialects. Many students find it laborious when studying in a different school or when interacting with foreign students. When there are groupings or projects in school, it is very hard to communicate. Communication is very important, but the very source of the miscommunication is the language itself and the culture that is keeping the students from interacting with each other. They cannot express their thoughts as much as they can, which the result of their lack of culture link. There is a friction in most international schools if the students are not informed well enough. The differences are very easy to see. From the way they talk to the way they act, foreign students are distinct. You can see the stress in them as they try to communicate if they aren’t used to speaking straight English. Students who are of a different language mustn't be deemed as a weaker or more advanced student in the classroom. Equality must be present at all times. If it isn't practiced, it will lead to biases and favoritism, misunderstandings and miscommunication across the classroom. It is very uncomfortable for a non-English speaking student to ask for help from the teacher as they will be criticized for their actions, when in actuality, they have no other intention but to get the work done. The local students may feel unimportant to the teacher if such help is given to the foreign student, so teachers must be very careful and sensitive to equivalence. If I were to become the teacher of a school, whether it may be an international or local school, I must be the example of a nondiscriminatory standard. Dealing with students is a huge responsibility so we must be mindful of the issues that may be happening in our schools today. There are numerous non-English speakers who are determined to try their best at learning English yet we still do not take them seriously. It would be so much easier for the local students to interact with the international students if we ourselves encouraged fellowship between the races. We should avoid conflicts that would offend any of them and continue to appreciate each culture. Although some may have religions that the other students do not approve of, we must respect each religion even if we do not agree with the teachings. And if we share the same belief with a student, we must not be biased with the student. Whatever the differences may be, racism is a meaningless and prideful thing to do. The fact that these international students want to learn English is an honor already. They have a respect for it and want to communicate with it to those who speak English and teach it to those who can’t. Everyday is a challenge to them as they continue to learn the art of English. But why can't we use the disadvantages for good? Why do we discriminate? English is the easiest to learn yet we still have issues with it being a second language. It is challenging for foreigners to communicate in English, but without challenge we will not learn to work hard for a great benefit. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for other countries to communicate and to share friendships? If only every one of us spoke English as their second language. But unfortunately, there are people who disagree with the idea. Although patriotism is good, there must be peace with other nations and cultures. English did not even start in America. It was developed using different languages. It is a testimony to the idea of unity with different nations. Great things can be accomplished when we accept and learn from issues such as English being a second language. English as a second language would be easier to adapt to if every culture had an effort to introduce it to their people. As English speakers, we must put value in the language we have attained and put it to good use. So many people all around the world have the desire to learn this language and so we shouldn’t make it an issue. It is a good problem. As long as there are learners, we must be willing to teach. And if we accomplish that, English would be universal and our nations would be united even in language.

Effect of leadership development program on organizational performance Dissertation

Effect of leadership development program on organizational performance - Dissertation Example statistical null hypotheses 15 Testing the null hypothesis 15 P-values 16 Significance levels 17 One-tailed vs. two-tailed probabilities 17 Reporting your results 18 Confidence interval 20 p=0.891 represents the probability of occurring the event. ... nsistency refers to inter-item reliability, and assesses the degree of consistency among the items in a scale, or the different observations used to derive a score Want to be sure that all the items (or observations) are measuring the same construct Estimates of Internal Consistency Item-total score consistency Split-half reliability: randomly divide items into 2 subsets and examine the consistency in total scores across the 2 subsets (any drawbacks?) Cronbach’s Alpha: conceptually, it is the average consistency across all possible split-half reliabilities Cronbach’s Alpha can be directly computed from data Estimating the Validity of a Measure A good measure must not only be reliable, but also valid A valid measure measures what it is intended to measure Validity is not a property of a measure, but an indication of the extent to which an assessment measures a particular construct in a particular context—thus a measure may be valid for one purpose but not another A measure cannot be valid unless it is reliable, but a reliable measure may not be valid Estimating Validity Like reliability, validity is not absolute Validity is the degree to which variability (individual differences) in participant’s scores on a particular measure, reflect individual differences in the characteristic or construct we want to measure Three types of measurement validity: Face Validity Construct Validity Criterion Validity Face Validity Face validity refers to the extent to which a measure ‘appears’ to measure what it is supposed to measure Not statistical—involves the judgment of the researcher (and the participants) A measure has face validity—’if people think it does’ Just because a measure has face validity does not ensure that it is a valid measure (and measures lacking

Project Management and Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Project Management and Research Methods - Essay Example The report in Part A would explain the marketing plan introduced by the new official for Telkom Kenya, which would help the company reverse its sales within a span of 2 years. It also throws light on the various strategies that can further help the company park more clients in future. Finally, at the end of Part A the report briefs a project plan summarizing the marketing campaign for the company. Part B explains the effectiveness of the market research. It also throws light on the reasons for decline of Telkom Kenya’s business and frame policies with the help of which the firm may expand in future. At the end before concluding with the recommendations, the report emphasises the various facets of the mobile phone industry. Contents Introduction 4 Part A: Marketing Campaign 5 One year Marketing plan of Telkom Kenya 5 Plan for the Marketing Campaign 5 SMART Objectives 6 Segmentation and Targeting 7 Marketing Strategies 8 Positioning 10 Further Improvements 11 12 Project Plan 14 Part 2: Market Research 15 Reasons for Decline of Telkom Kenya’s Business 15 Market Research Effectiveness 17 Alternative strategies for Future 19 Technological Solutions 19 Product Offerings 21 Mobile Phone Industry 23 Conclusions and Recommendations 23 Reference List 25 Bibliography 26 Introduction The report tries to throw light on the communication sector of Kenya, the largest economy in the African continent. The postal services in Kenya from 1948 to 1977 were provided by the organization of East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation. However, the country launched its own monopolistic communication firm KPTC when the East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation’s business was ceased. In 1990 the policies of the Kenyan government changed according to the new reforms made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). One of such reforms required the separation of postal and telecommunication services in Kenya. KPTC was supposed to win over an IMF loa n opportunity if its business was privatized. However, IMF did not sanction the loan to KPTC because of the rising amount of corruption in the operations of the Kenyan government. Finally the board of directors were terminated from KPTC by the government in 1999, before IMF officials came over in the country. It was at this juncture that the monopoly privatized company of KPTC in Kenya broken up into three companies. Among these three organizations, Telkom Kenya was the company involving in providing telecommunication services. Postal services were delivered by Postal Corporation of Kenya and Communications Commission in Kenya was a separate nationwide authoritarian body created in the company. The report will primarily discuss about the business issues of Telkom Kenya. This company primarily engaged in providing landline phone services in Kenya. The various internet providers in Kenya operate on the infrastructure created and maintained by the company of Telkom Kenya. The company h as invested a sum of $1.5 billion in Kenya recently to expand the infrastructural facilities for mobile telecommunication in Kenya. However, it has become a matter of concern that the market shares of the company is falling over time. The company has accounted a 42.5% fall in its income, till the mid quarter of 2013 from the last year. It was also accounted by the analysts that the companies share in the market of

Defining Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Defining Terrorism - Essay Example As report declares a group can be treated as an individual who batters the society. Society again can be of varying types. A patriarchal society implies that men have the right to dominate over others. The cultural belief that husbands have the right to batter wife leads to terrorism. Hence for domestic violence to flourish three factors become necessary – the desire to dominate, culture that tolerates violence and stressful conditions which limit the sufferers capabilities to respond. This paper discusses that the terrorist activity results from financial, emotional, and psychological instability. They are paranoids and split personalities. They undergo depression, anxiety, and anger. They use violence to control and get what they want. Terrorist violence is anger-driven and children to display tantrums. Men who batter their wives also inflict mental injury on their children. Jealousy could also be a reason to instigate the terrorist. Sexual jealousy and infidelity is a common ground for domestic violence. Anger and hatred instigate a person to inflict torture. The various ways in which domestic violence takes place starts from verbal use and moves on to physical violence. It shows the hatred the terrorist has for the victim at the same time gives rise to a reciprocal feeling of hatred in the victim also. This immediately gives a feeling of fear and powerlessness in the victim. They even threaten the victim of dire consequences if they reveal the torture to other members in the family.

The lottery Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The lottery - Research Paper Example They are to pick a paper from the black box and whoever picks the black marked paper is doomed to die. The story narrates that Mr. Hutchinson picked the marked paper so that out of all the villagers, each member of his family was to pick from the box to determine who will finally suffer the consequences of the tradition. Tessie Hutchinson, the wife, picked the marked paper and therefore was stoned to death. This may be very barbaric but â€Å"The Lottery† speaks more genuine concerns about tradition and how people treat it, than it looks to be in this retelling of the story. It also portrays literary elements such as point of view, setting, characters, plot and role of tradition in the story which will be discussed in detail in this paper. â€Å"The Lottery† is told by a third person narrator (Cencage) whose view of the characters is limited. The storyteller is not able to tell the thoughts of the characters but efficiently narrates the story by simply identifying the c haracters and describing them, their actions or their words and facial expressions. Cencage describes the manner of narration as â€Å"detached and objective† in recounting the events of the story. ... here the story was set, this day could be seen as a day when children would go out and play gleefully outside or it would be a wonderful day for families to go walking together or have a picnic in the park. According to Cencage, the 27th could a day when the solstice, the longest day of the year, occurs. It is said that traditionally, people sacrificed humans during the solstice and so the significance of this in the story cannot be easily dismissed as it soon eventually unfolds in the story that the winner of the lottery is going to be stoned to death. In an interview with the author, she was asked about how she came up with the story and she comments, â€Å"Perhaps the effort of that last 50 yards up the hill put an edge on the story. It was a warm morning and the hill was steep† (nothbennington.org). However, behind the setting are also characters which made the story come alive. The narrative presents most of the villagers as a group and they are not identified. There are many minor characters which have been mentioned and there are also major players. However, this paper will focus on one major character, Tessie Hutchinson, who unfortunately picked the doomed marked paper that led to her death. Mrs. Hutchinson is first seen in the story running from her home, still on her house clothes. Evidently, she has been doing her household chores and has hurried to the meeting to participate in the lottery that was about to take place. She is also presented as a happy and talkative person who easily speaks her mind and feelings. However, when she â€Å"wins the lottery and is stoned to death by her fellow villagers† (Cencage), Tessie finds the courage to rally herself against the fairness of the system and the tradition. Tessie is the symbol of the rise of feminism. In a

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 17

Case study - Essay Example The major problem that arises from implementing rulings that enforce business ethics is that laws are always retrospective in nature. This means that no law will solve a problem that is not someway provided for in that law, and correspondingly, most business problems are not crimes till they have been recognized and a rule has been applied against them (Collins 2010, p. 15). Another problem seen in laws applying to business scenarios is that such laws tend to create a negative portrayal of the relationship between ethics and law. Common law can decree some key precedents at the time when dealing with business problems that are ethical, but then again if business ethics depend only in the compliance of legal statutes that is combined with common law, then ethics will be weakened in force (Collins 2010, p. 18). Due to the fact that the rulings in common laws are centered in precedent, It is quite possible that a certain company can figure out how to execute an unprincipled action that is flawlessly legal within the defined scopes of the law up to that particular point. Additionally, if it appears that there is no law which bans that act, then it is still legal (Collins 2010, p. 23). When the corporate laws focus on ethics as identical with conforming to the law, then the companies will not be barred from executing any act until the act is forbidden in either common law or official statute. An example that entails the relationship between law and business problems is the Ford Pinto case. The case involved a Ford pinto car model. The chief designer, Ford, in making the car, created a model that would statistically cause 180 fewer accidents per year (Collins 2010, p. 25). However, this alternative model would cost an extra $11 per model. Ford then used a cost benefit analysis in compliance with the common law and previous business ethics cases to decide whether or not to implement the

TAKE HOME EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

TAKE HOME EXAM - Essay Example Kennedy, on the other hand, wore some make up and as a result, the lights favored him as he seemed cooler as well as more collected than Nixon. In this paper, I will look at ways in which television revolutionized politics and how it ushered in a new political environment since the presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon. For the individuals who watched the debate on TV, most of them believed that Kennedy came out the victor of the debate. This was mainly attributed to the way he presented himself. People tend to pay more attention to someone who presents himself as a neat and orderly person than to an unconditioned and shabby looking person especially if he is vying for the presidency. For those who listened to the radio, Nixon won the debate because of his deep and strong radio appealing voice. This debate was historical not only because it was televised but also because before the debate Nixon was the favorite candidate but after the debate, everything changed. Kennedy was e lected president thanks to his captivating performance in the televised debates (Philips, 1960). As a new medium, television changed presidential elections as radio voice was no longer convincing enough as compared to television campaigns. From this moment on, politics underwent significant revolutionary changes as television became central to shaping the political landscape. Elected officials and qualified candidates vying for office began using television as a way of speaking directly to the electorate in the 20th century. Producers and network executives used this opportunity to introduce programs in which they host politicians in their bid to win over millions of people. This has led to a generation of sound bite shows, talk shows and massive political news coverage on television. Notably, political spending has immensely increased with a lot of it spent on advertising campaign aired on television. It, therefore, goes without saying that television plays a pivotal role in politi cs as a general sector, as well as individual political careers. The introduction of television into the political scene was a timely feature as it changed the packaging of political news. The way politicians look as they deliver their political message is very important since no one would want to repeat Nixon's mistake. The image they display on the screens as they convince people about their agenda is central to attracting and maintaining the attention of the viewers (Lang and Lang, 2002). Most of the politicians spend their time searching for funding for their campaigns. Clearly, their success in elections depend their ability to pay for airplay for their commercials on television because they use it to advertise their virtues as well as their agendas to the electorate. However, the cost of these advertisements has become so high that it determines the success or failure of a candidate. According to Hewitt (2000), the involvement of television, and politics was the result of that memorable debate between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. That was the moment legislators realized that television could make one's political career a success. Television moguls were also not left behind as they saw an opportunity to make a lot of money from political advertisements. Ever since television could be used in

Health disparities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Health disparities - Research Paper Example ANs had a shorter life expectancy than the general population and constantly suffered from increased prevalence of disease such as rheumatic fever and tuberculosis (US Public Health Service 17). This paper will examine health disparities among AI/ANs, discussing the degree to which current health care system are meeting the health needs of this underserved population. Following advances in public health and medical care systems over the last half century, the AI/AN population has also transitioned with the rest of the population from a period of pandemics primarily of infectious diseases to one of degenerative, as well as lifestyle diseases. This progression has enhanced the recognition of health disparities encountered by the AI/AN communities from conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, drug abuse and cancer, which are essentially noninfectious. While epidemiological information regarding the AI/AN population is largely incomplete or prone to inaccuracies chiefly due to racial misclassification in official records, a vast majority of the comparisons with non-Native populations are extremely dramatic. For example, among AI/AN adults who utilized Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities in 2002, the age-adjusted incidence of diabetes was approximately 15.3%. This is significantly greater than the 7.3% incidence among all American adul ts (Kunitz 163). The rate of heart disease has traditionally been lower among Native Americans than among the white population. However, this trend is rapidly reversing since heart disease is currently the leading cause of death among the AI/AN population. In addition, deaths from violence and unintentional injuries are a substantive problem among native communities. Between 1996 and 1998, the age-adjusted death prevalence among AI/ANs across the US was nearly twice that of the population of other races in the US. The death rate for unintentional injuries, on the other hand, was at least thrice that of the rest of the US