The Impact of Ownership Structure on the Dividend Policy free essay sample

We find evidence in support of the hypothesis that a positive relation exists between dividends and free cash flow and it’s greater for low-growth firms than for the high-growth firms. The results also show that the impact of managerial ownership and bank ownership on dividend yield is positive particularly for the low growth firms. This is inconsistent with the view that the managerial ownership and institutional ownership reduce the need for the dividend mechanism. Finally, there is evidence that the Keiretsu classification affects relations between ownership structure and dividend payouts. Overall, the dividend policy appears to be used by Japanese low-growth firms to control the overinvestment problem. Free cash flow hypothesis is to some degree supported. JEL classification codes: G32 G34 G35 Keywords: Ownership Structure, Dividend Policy, Free Cash Flow -2- 1. Introduction Why does a firm pay dividends? This question has been the subject of debate for many years, In the pre-Miller and Modigliani era, it was believed that increasing dividends would always increase market value. We will write a custom essay sample on The Impact of Ownership Structure on the Dividend Policy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Miller and Modigliani (1961) establish that in a perfect capital market, given an investment policy, dividend is irrelevant in determining share value. Empirically, however, we have observed that a change in dividend policy does have a significant impact on the share price. Different researchers have concentrated on different types of imperfections in the market in order to rationalize why dividends matter. Of these, a plausible idea is that corporate dividend policy addresses agency problems between shareholders and managers (Rozeff, 1982; Easterbrook, 1984; Jensen, 1986). According to these agency theories, unless profits are paid out to shareholders as dividends, they may be committed to unprofitable projects that provide private benefits for the managers. Rozeff (1982) and Easterbrook (1984) argues that the payment of dividends expose companies to the possible need to raise external funds, and hence subjects them to greater monitoring by capital markets. Jensen (1986) argues that paying dividends reduces the discretionary resources under managerial control and so helps to mitigate the overinvestment problem. In this study, we examine the implication of the free cash flow hypothesis in corporate dividend policy, and focus specifically on cross-sectional relations between dividend payout policy and ownership structure and free cash flow. Given the severity of the overinvestment problem, relations between dividend payouts and ownership structure, free cash flow may be conditioned on the existence of growth opportunities. This research examines how the sensitivity of relations between dividend payouts and ownership structure, free cash flow varies cross-sectionally with growth opportunities. Previous studies have shown that in countries like the US, firm ownership is relatively dispersed, leading to a limited ability of owners to monitor or control management’s use of free cash flow. Thus the dividend payout is one of the primary control mechanisms whereby shareholders can reduce management access to or abuse of discretionary funds. In countries with 1) a higher concentration of ownership 2) extensive cross-shareholding and 3) strong banking relationship, like Japan, dominant shareholders are believed to have both the incentives and the ability to keep management in check. Tests using a sample of 986 observations for 350 firms from 1992 to 2000 period indicate that the sensitivity of managerial ownership and bank ownership to dividend payouts varies directly with the relative abundance of growth opportunities. we find that dividend payouts for low-growth firms are significantly related to managerial ownership and bank ownership. In -3- contrast, there are no significant relations between dividend payouts and managerial ownership, bank ownership for high-growth firms. We also investigate associations between free cash flow and dividend payouts. Consistent with the prediction by Jensen (1986), there is a strong positive relation between the level of free cash flow and dividend payouts. Furthermore, association between free cash flow and dividend payouts is stronger for low-growth firms. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the previous theoretical and empirical research. Section 3 explains the Japanese institutional background. Section 4 describes the empirical framework. The empirical results are presented in Section 5-6 and Section 7 concludes. . Dividend payouts, Ownership Structure and Agency Cost Theory 2. 1 Dividends and Agency Costs Corporate dividend policy has been viewed as a control mechanism that mitigates agency conflicts between shareholders and managers. Jensen and Meckling (1976) suggest that one way to reduce agency costs of equity is to pay a larger proportion of its earnings as dividends to its stockholders. A high dividend payout ratio will result in lower â€Å"discretionary† cash flows available to be squandered away by managers. Rozeff (1982) argues that dividend payments are part of the firm’s optimal monitoring/bonding package and serve to reduce agency costs. Easterbrook (1984) lists some of the mechanisms by which dividends and the consequent raising of capital can control agency costs. Agency costs â€Å"are less serious if the firm is constantly in the market for new capital. When it issues new securities, the firm’s affairs will be reviewed by an investment banker or some similar intermediary acting as a monitor for the collective interest of shareholders, and by the purchasers of the new instruments†. Free cash flow hypothesis The free cash flow hypothesis is a variant of the agency argument based on the Principal-Agent framework. According to this framework, dividends are used by shareholders as a device to reduce overinvestment by managers. Jensen(1986) argues that managers with substantial free cash flow tend to invest it in wasteful projects rather than pay it out to shareholders, because managerial compensation and perquisites increase even with poor investments. These unnecessary investments lead to poor performance, creating conflicts between shareholders and managers. Jensen emphasizes the disciplinary role of dividends that restrain managerial unprofitable expansionary tendencies by limiting financial resources available to managers. Dividend payments represent an ongoing commitment to maintain higher payments in future periods, because firms are reluctant to cut dividends and have been greeted by a significant -4- negative stock market reaction when they do. Jensen suggests that dividends should be paid out in ways that instigate managers to gorge the cash beyond the optimal amount. This implies that free cash flow positively determines dividend payments. . 3 Ownership structure and dividend policy One criticism of the agency cost theory is that if managers want to overinvest or spend more on jets, what is the mechanism that will force them self-commit to an action that will prevent them from doing so? Several authors address this issue in the context of ownership structure 2. 3. 1 Institutional Ownership There are several important ways in which institutions differ from individual investors. In general, institutions manage large pools of funds and therefore invest larger amounts in each stock. Because they have larger amounts at stake, they should have incentives to devote resources to monitoring (Grossman and Hart, 1980; Shleifer and Vishny,1986). Institutions are also likely to be better informed than are individual investors. Not only do institutions devote resources to gathering information, but they are also sometimes privy to corporate information that individual investors do not have ( Michaely and Shaw,1994). However, the prediction on the relationship between dividend policy and institutional ownership are mixed. The first line of research suggests a positive relation. Zeckhauser and pound (1990) suggest the arm’s length view of investment held by many institutional investors, coupled with the incentives to free ride with respect to monitoring activities, implies that institutional shareholders are unlikely to provide direct monitoring themselves. The institutions, rather than providing monitoring themselves, forces firms to increase their dividends in order that they are subsequently forced to go to the external capital market for future funds. Eckbo and Verma (1994) argue that institutional shareholders will prefer free cash flow to be distributed in the form of dividends in order to reduce the agency costs of free cash flow. From this perspective, it may be argued that institutional shareholders may counter a tendency for managers to prefer the excessive retention of cash flow and, by virtue of their voting power, force managers to pay out dividends. Moh’d, Perry and Rimbey (1994) and Short, Zhang, and Keasey (2002) also provide additional support. The second line of research suggests a negative relation. Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that external monitoring activity is an important controlling element when agency conflict exists. If large institutional investors act as monitoring agents, and if dividends are paid to reduce agency cost, then according to this theory, there should be a substitute relation between dividend policy and institutional ownership. This implies a negative relationship between the percentage of -5- hares held by institutions and the dividend payout. D’Souz, and Saxena (1999) provide the empirical evidence. 2. 3. 2 Managerial Ownership There are several lines of argument on the role of managerial ownership. The first line of argument suggest that managerial ownership may better aligning the interest of management and shareholders and helps mitigate free cash flow problems. Therefore it results in a higher level of total payouts when managers hold more shares. ( White,1996; Fenn and Liang,2001). The second line of argument suggest that insider stock ownership provides direct incentive alignment between managers and shareholders while dividends serve as a bonding mechanism reducing management’s scope for making unprofitable investment out of internal funds. Thus, insider stock ownership and dividend policy are viewed as substitute means of addressing potential agency problem. Empirical articles have shown that managerial ownership is not a linear function of agency costs. Morck, Shleifer and Vishny (1988) and McConnell and Servaes (1990) found insider ownership is related to performance in a nonlinear fashion. Schooley and Barney (1994) report a nonmonotonic relation between CEO stock ownership and dividend yield. Farinha (2003) documented the U-shaped relationship between insider ownership and dividend payout in the UK. He argues that it stems from the effects of managerial entrenchment. Japanese Institutional Background Japan offers us a valuable opportunity to examine issues related to dividend policy under an institutional setup quite different from that in U. S. , such as the main bank, the cross-shareholding among corporations. This distinctive Japanese institutional background may result in important difference between Japanese and U. S. firms in terms of corporate monitoring and information sharing. Since, most theoretical explanations of dividends rely on agency and information issues, they would suggest different choices of dividend policy in Japan. 3. 1 Main bank -6- Aoki, Patrick and Sheard (1994) highlight a significant governance role played by the main bank for Japanese firms. The main bank effectively monitors the client firms by becoming well-informed about the firm (Diamond, 1984)). The main bank’s equity stake in the client firm mitigates agency costs between creditors and shareholders (Prowse (1990)). The main bank sometimes intervenes the management of the client firm that performs poorly by appointing bank employees to the board of directors in the client firm (Kaplan and Minton,1994; Kang and Shivdasani, 1995; Morck and Nakamura, 1999). In case of financial distress, the main bank acts as a guarantor for other creditors, reducing the cost related to the restructuring of the client firm (Hoshi, Kashyap and Sharfstein,1990).. In contrast, several authors suggest that there is a cost in having a main bank. Firms relying on the main bank for financing are likely to be constrained in raising the additional capital when the banking sector as a whole has a financial difficulty (Kang and Stulz, 2000). The main bank can extract surplus from the client firms due to its monopolistic power of information production (Rajan, 1992). In a similar context, the main bank has an incentive to force the client firms to undertake low-risk, negative NPV projects (Weinstein and Yafeh, 1998). Firms that do not depend on bank borrowing exhibit higher profitability than the matched sample of firms that have a main bank ( Kang and Shivdasani, 1999). 3. 2 Keiretsu Group There exist differences between keiretsu or industrial groups centered around affiliated banks and financial institutions and unaffiliated independent firms with weaker banking ties. Japanese industrial organization is characterized by groups of enterprises (keiretsu) composed of firms based in different industries but bound by ties of fractional ownership and reliant on a large commercial bank as the major but not sole lender. The large shareholders of keiretsu firms often are also large creditors of the firm as well as important long-term commercial business partners. The keiretsu and non-keiretsu firms are facing different liquidity constraints in their investment spending. Investment spending is very sensitive to liquidity constrains for non-keiretsu firms, but not so for keiretsu firms. Since keiretsu firms are likely to have better access to financing sources, keiretsu firms seemingly face less liquidity constraints in making investment decision. The differences in institutional arrangements between keiretsu and non-keiretsu firms may influence the behavior of shareholders as monitors. Kester (1990) describes the corporate governance system of keiretsu firms in terms of a complex interaction between shareholdings, credit holding and long-term business relationship that exist between the firm and its stake holders. Aoki, Patric, and Sheard (1994), and Berglof and Perotti (1994) suggest a two-tier monitor system. In the first stage, corporate cross-shareholders serve as the monitors under -7- normal circumstances because they have specific industry knowledge and observe each others’ performance through their business relations. In the second stage, the financial institutions take an active intervention role when member firms get into financial distress, replacing incumbent managers and requiring restructuring and liquidation of assets. Managerial equity ownership Because the well-known keiretsu structure and influential bank shareholders, the agency problems between Japanese managers and shareholders are considered to be minimal (e. g. Nakatani, 1984; Hoshi, Kashyap and Scharfstein, 1990, 1991; and Prowse, 1990). The manager ownership, as a way of aligning interests between managers and shareholders, has been viewed as an unnecessary corporate governance mechanism. However Kang and Stulz (1998), Mock and Nakamura (1999), and Weinstein and Yafeh (1998) questioned the effectiveness of bank oversight in Japan. Morck and Nakamura (1999) argue that for independent firms, bank equity holders pursue their interests as creditors at the expense of their equity claims. Gibson(1995) and Kang and Stulz (2000) argue that poor bank health may adversely affect their dependent firms’ investment prospects, which, in turn, would affect their ability to monitor effectively. This particular contention is especially relevant to the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as it is well known that Japanese banks have been experiencing significant financial difficulties during this time period. In light of these findings, Morck and Nakamura (1999) contend that some independent firms may require corporate control mechanisms other than bank oversight. Due to the decline in power of Japanese banks, the rarity of incentive-based compensation contracts for Japanese managers, and the fact that many Japanese firms are not affiliated with a keiretsu group, the managerial-ownership may represents an alternative mechanism to ensure that firms operate efficiently. Thus, the unique Japanese institutional arrangements provide an interesting backdrop to investigate whether cash flow theory explanation for dividend policy still apply given the differences. 4. Empirical framework 4. 1 Hypotheses If one assumes, as suggested by Jensen (1986), that managers receive utility from increasing the size of the firm, the control function of dividend payouts on the overinvestment problem varies with the firm’s growth opportunities. Management may have an incentive to pay out as few dividends as possible at shareholders’ expense. The overinvestment problem is less important and may be trivial for firms with many growth opportunities, because the objectives of managers and shareholders are more likely to coincide. On the other hand, when good projects are not -8- available, managers with substantial free cash flow must find ways to spend it and hence choose poor projects. Thus, the overinvestment problem is higher for low-growth firms than for high-growth firms, and divergence of interests between shareholders and managers over the firm’s payout policy are more severe in firms with few growth opportunities. These firms can limit management’s temptation to overinvest by paying out a larger percentage of their earnings. Their high-growth counterparts with lots of investment opportunities are likely to pay low dividends because they have profitable uses for the capital. For this reason, we expect stronger relations between free cash flow and dividend payouts for low-growth firms. Hypothesis I: relations between the level of free cash flow and dividend payouts are positive and are stronger for firms with low growth opportunities. Most of the existing agency explanations of payout rely on the implicit assumption that firms can get refinanced on the capital markets when they need funds to undertake new investment projects. Consequently, the strategy that minimizes agency costs is to maintain a high payout (to reduce the amount of free cash flow and to avoid overinvestment problems) and to raise new outside capital whenever and attractive investment opportunity emerges. Outside shareholders are harmed by a potential overinvestment and therefore they have preferences for high payout, which curbs the amount of corporate resources that can be spent by management on value reducing projects. Managerial ownership helps to align interests of management and shareholders that may yield the reduction of agency costs stemming from payout smaller. Consequently, payout ratios in a firm with managerial block holdings may be low because the severity of manager-shareholder agency conflict is low. This traditional agency view generates a set of hypothesis that the payout is negatively related with the managerial ownership. Institutional investors are more effective at monitoring management than retail investors. Due to the size of their investments and the resources at their disposal, institutional investors have greater incentive and ability to gather and analyze information pertaining to their investments, as well as a greater ability to discipline management and push for changes when management performs poorly.

Write the Nonfiction Book Proposal Before Writing the Book

Write the Nonfiction Book Proposal Before Writing the Book I finished a manuscript, set it aside for a month, then read it again. But I never even tried to publish it. Why not? Because as brilliant as it was (well, I thought so and so did my mother), it was doomed because it had no point. The book, overflowing with insightful arguments and powerfully constructed sentences, was like a new pencil whose value lies not in what it is but in what it will do for a buyer. Without a point, neither pencils nor books have much reason to inspire their purchase. I should have considered that before I wrote even one chapter. The commercial value of what we write must not be an afterthought. That is why nonfiction publishers require a book proposal and why you should, too, even when youre the publisher. We write a book proposal to convince our publisher (and ourselves) that this book is a good idea and promises to be a good seller. The details, features, and benefits of the book discovered while writing the proposal will be the core components of your marketing campaign, so it accomplishes two things at one time. Looking at our idea through the lens of reality, the proposal asks and answers three compelling questions. Can this book find a market? Will it appeal to that market? Does it have what it takes to sell? Why a book proposal? 1.          Because we take our time and talent seriously. We cant afford to squander valuable time on a doomed project. We write to make money. Writing something for which there is no market, or for a market that is too small or that will not or cannot pay makes no sense. 2.         To find the angle. It defines how your book differs from other books in the genre. 3.         To establish why we are the best person to write it. We tend to exaggerate or underestimate ourselves. A book proposal establishes and clarifies our qualifications. 4.         To ensure there is a marketable point.   Nonfiction readers only buy solutions, answers, or fulfillment. What problem does my book solve? What question does it answer? What dream does it fulfill? 5.         To think in specific terms. WHAT will I write? WHO will read it? WHAT will it do for those readers? WHERE can they be found online and offline? HOW do I get to them? HOW do I help them find me? HOW do I convince them to buy my book? 6.         To create an action plan. All the data in the world does little good unless it forms into a plan. Publishers demand one, and if you are the publisher, you should demand one, too. Promotion and marketing reach buyers. The plan considers how to find them and how to persuade them. Whats in a book proposal?  ¦    Overview  ¦    Marketing Promotion Plan  ¦    Competing Books  ¦    Authors

Discuss the role of perceptions of 'otherness' in 'ethnic cleansing' Essay

Discuss the role of perceptions of 'otherness' in 'ethnic cleansing' - Essay Example In most cases, this includes dehumanizing that culture as well. The concept of the ‘other’ is central to the development of enough hatred to believe that ethnic cleansing is not only necessary, but feasible for one set of humans to commit against another. In order to create a belief system that can include ethnic cleansing as a solution for conflicts between cultures, a sense of the ‘other’ must be developed so that a belief in the dehumanization of the opposing culture diminishes any sense of committing murder against a fellow human being. According to Dirven, ethnic cleansing comes as a result of â€Å"abuses of cognitive processes (that) lead to atrocities against humanity beyond the imagination of most of us† (115). Cognitive semantics and the use of external symbols to create unity are also used in order to create a sense of the ‘other’. Those who are unified under a focused set of beliefs use the concept of those who are outside of those beliefs to create the sense of the ‘other’, the group that does not identify with the same belief systems. Dirven goes on to say that â€Å"Features or attributes of the so-called ‘outsiders’ may then be made cognitively significant through exaggerated contrast to the valued manners or behaviours of the newly identified ‘inside’ group† (114). ... They have an overpowering emotional and non-rational quality†. The nature of the need to belong is balanced by the need to identify those who do not belong. It is the nature of the individual to bond and create mutual ‘others’ that provide contrast to the superiority of their own cultural group. In doing this, the defined characteristics of the ‘other’ provide support for why a group will find reasons to isolate away from other groups and create conflict to assert their continued superiority. These methods can be varied, but one of the worst is through the policies that involve ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing involves two different concepts. Ethnicity traits that identify a group are combined with cultural traits. Groups are identified by both their physical manifestations of difference and their cultural manifestations through systems of belief. The difference between ethnicity and culture can be defined by the idea that one is involuntary and the other is voluntary. One is through physical attributes that are not a matter of control or choice. The other is through choosing to bond with others in a formed group (Cohen and Stone 67). The differences between the two are cause for different types of conflict and the line is not always considered clearly drawn. Therefore, if a person of certain ethnic attributes joins a culture that no longer associates them with the belief systems of their ethnic cultural group, this may not prevent them from being included. Joining a cultural group without ethnic markers that identify an individual with that group will also not create a safe place for an individual. The example

Behavioral Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Behavioral Analysis - Essay Example It has a PE ratio of 27.9, and there are about 12 stock trade analysts rating Biogen as a Buy neither a sell nor a hold company. Average volume for Biogen has been 2.0 million dollars shares daily for 30 days annually. It has a market cap of 90.8 billion dollars and is a part of the medical sector and drug companies. Biogen stock has a beta of 0.62 and a short float of 1.3 percent with 0.89 days to cover. Biogen shares are up 13.7 percent annually of the close of trading monthly. According to the Street Quant Ratings, Biogen is a rate as a buy and the company’s strength exists in many areas. For example, the solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, and compelling growth net income. Others include robust revenue growth and largely solid financial status with reasonable debt levels by most measures. According to the recent highlight analysis of the Biogen company ratings, influenced by its outstanding earnings growth of 72.77 percent and other vital driving factors. The stock of the company languished by 30.23 percent over the past years outsmarting the performance of the S&P 500 index rating the same time. BIIB irrespective of numerous stock market challenges would maintain despite enjoying fabulous gains in the past year. Biogen Company has recorded significant earnings per share creating improvement in the recent quarter compared to the previous quarter. Company shows a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over a period of two years. In every fiscal year, the company increases its bottom-line profits by the rate of 12.39 dollars compared to 7.82 of the past years. Besides, the market anticipates much increase in the earnings of 16.78 dollars from 12.39 dollars (The Street Wire 2015, p.1). The company depending on the net income growth from the same quarter a year ago significantly outperformed against the S&P 500.The rate exceeded other sectors such as Biotechnology industry average. When compared to the

CT Scanning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CT Scanning - Research Paper Example The paper tells that CT scan stands for computed topography which is an x-ray test that is used to produce cross sectional images of the different parts of the body using an x ray and a computer. This allows the doctor to take an inside look into the different areas of the body and study them as to what problem is going on and then diagnose it for the patients. CT scan is used to evaluate the brain, neck, spine, chest, abdomen, pelvis etc. The CT scanning technique has made it relatively easy for doctors to diagnose and treat the patients and also is safe and well tolerated. A CT scan provides a very different view of the body than an x ray. The major difference lies in it giving a cross sectional image of the body which allows the doctors to examine from within the body. It is also used by cancer patients to look inside the body for the spread of the disease. Some of the advantages of using CT scanning are that it is one of the fastest methods of examining chest, pelvis and abdomen as it views all types of tissues. Also it diagnoses wide varieties of cancer. Moreover it is also useful in examining the spinal problems and injuries to hands, feet and other body structures. CT scanning works much like X ray machines in the sense that numerous X rays and electronic x-ray detectors revolve around the person and measuring the amount of radiation that is being absorbed by the body. The examination table simultaneously moves through the scanner so that the x ray beam follows a spiral path. A special computer program processes the volume of data to create two-dimensional cross-sectional images of the body parts, which are then displayed on a monitor. This technique is called helical or spiral CT (Morgan & Emberton, 1994). The Disease it cures As mentioned above CT scanning can be used to diagnose different types of cancers such as lung cancer, liver, prostate cancer and enables doctors to see the size of the tumor and see the rate at which it is increasing. The size of the tumor, its exact location, and its effect on nearby tissues is also seen through this. CT scanning is also used to see inside the head and the brain region of the person to check if there is internal bleeding or not. Also it helps in analyzing the vascular condition of the person. Vascular condition pertains to the blood flow of the person and if it’s not normal it can lead to kidney failure and even to a heart disease and stroke. It can help assess the bone disease, bone density and the state of a patient’s spine. before CT scan was introduced the examination of such things were not easy for the doctors and now the life expectancy for the patients have increased world over as they are exposed to better health benefits and treatments (Haaga, et al., 1977) (Coburn, 2008). In an article (Foster, Scott, & Payne, 1990) it is also believed that CT scanning may help cure dementia. Dementia is a disease in which the person loses his or her memory as they get old and the living gets tough. The article says that some dementia is reversible and early CT scanning can help establish that whether the treatment can take place or not. It says there are about 50 different reasons for the dementia but the most common one is Alzheimer’s disease which accounts up to about 50% of the cause of dementia. Then CT scanning is not to diagnose the disease but to find that whether it is treat-able or not. The article talks in detail about the dementia and what are the instances when it can be reversible and only in those circumstances should CT scanning are used. Some areas which should be looked upon are that does the patient have a history of family dementia. age again is an important factor which states that the older the patient is the lesser their chances of surviving dementia and the lesser their age is the more the chances they have of being treated for dementia. The statistics for the dementia can be as high as 20% which is an alarming rate. the article also

Van Den Haag Regarding Capital Punishment Philosophy Essay

Van Den Haag Regarding Capital Punishment Philosophy Essay In this paper, I will examine the debate over legalizing the death penalty, specifically by referring to the writings of Turrow in To Kill Or Not To Kill and Van den Haag in On Deterrence and the Death Penalty. I will argue that in responding to Van den Haags positions for the death penalty, Turrow would more strongly object to the argument that rests on its justice on opposed to its value as deterrent. I will then consider the merit of the arguments on both sides with regards to justice, eventually concluding that Turrows points are most convincing. Although Turrow makes space in his article to refute arguments based on both deterrence and justice, his argument against deterrence is much shorter and open to criticism. It boils down to the fact that he has not encountered sufficient evidence that the presence of the death penalty results in lower instances of crime. Van den Haag gives several arguments as to why this fails to make a convincing argument against the practice. The ones that are given the most time are the theoretical reasoning that a higher penalty for an action increases deterrence and why the lack of evidence for deterrence should not cause us to assume it does not exist. Since Turrow does not concern himself with the theoretical grounds for deterrence, this argument is unlikely to convince him. If the facts do not back up this theorizing then there is little reason to base policy on it. Luckily, Van den Haag also responds to concerns about the lack of evidence showing that the presence of the death penalty has any deterrent effect on crime. While he admits that no evidence can be found that the death penalty reduces crime, we should not conclude that this effect is not present. Because there are so many factors that influence things like homicide rates, it is impossible to derive a causal relationship or lack thereof between magnitude of punishment and frequency of offense. As Van den Haag puts it, it is wrong to believe, lack of evidence for deterrence is evidence for the lack of deterrence, (Van den Haag, 145). This is accompanied by the claim on Van den Haags part that often criminals are not even aware of laws in their state regarding capital punishment, so its presence would not factor into their cost-benefit analysis. Now, an immediate question raised by this is: How can the death penalty deter criminals if they arent aware of its existence? Even though only part of Van den Haags appeal to deterrence seems to carry any weight to Turrow, the inability to draw any solid conclusion from statistical analysis should be enough to give Turrow pause, if not necessarily convince him. I will now argue that while Turrow may still disagree with the deterrence argument, he will object more strongly to the appeal to justice that Van den Haag gives. This is not to say that Turrow rejects the idea that justice should be an end we seek in punishing criminals. In his article, he makes several statements that would be nonsensical if this were not the case. Firstly he says, Ive always thought death-penalty proponents have a point when they say that it denigrates the profound indignity of murder to punish it in the same fashion as other crimes. (Turrow, 4) Turrow is not appealing to deterrence or potential for rehabilitation here in his argument for the death penalty. His objection is based on the fact that some crimes are so heinous that we must respond in kind for the sake of the moral order. It seems to me that restoring the moral order, is as good a definition of justice as any other. Now that I have concluded that both Van den Haag and Turrow see justice as a legitimate ground on which to base arguments for and against capital punishment, I must show that appealing to justice leads the two authors to different conclusions. Van den Haags appeal to justice is a very much utilitarian argument that is dependent upon his argument from deterrence. He argues that whatever way that we were to define injustice, the correct action should be that which results in the least injustice. This leads him to conclude that if we are concerned with innocent people being mistakenly given the death penalty, we must consider the number of innocents killed this way and compare it to the number of deaths that could have been prevented by deterrence and see if we have a net gain in innocents saved. He then goes on to argue that capital punishment deters enough would-be killers to make its legality just. Turrow would object more strongly to claims of justice than to deterrence because, as Van den Haag states, the validity of his justice argument is dependent on the validity of his deterrence argument. I have already mentioned that Turrow is skeptical of claims of deterrence. I turns out that even if he were to reverse his stance on deterrence, he would also disagree with Van den Haags reasoning for why this would make a system with capital punishment a just one. The main flaw that Turrow finds with capital punishment is its inability to be properly implemented within our justice system. He relates stories of his firsthand experience with cases in which men are given, or very nearly given, the death sentence for crimes they did not commit. This deeply troubles him, and he is not so willing to accept this tragedy as Van den Haag is by simply requiring that more innocent lives are saved by the act than are wrongfully executed. He simply states that, Now and then, we will execute someone who is innocentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Turrow, 7) He makes no reference to the number of people saved by this practice, because that number is not significant. Turrow seems to believe that wrongfully executing someone is far worse than the crime of murder enacted by an individual. This may be that the first is a sort of betrayal of the justice system, whereas the latter is simply a failure of it. Therefore, because Turrow would disagree with both the main argument (jus tice) and that which it relies upon (deterrence), his objection to justice would be the stronger of the two. I will now evaluate both arguments from each of these in regards to the justice of having a death penalty. Here I will assume that the argument for deterrence is valid and some innocent lives are spared since Van den Haags argument for justice is contingent upon this fact. As I have described it, the crux of this debate hinges on whether or not it is acceptable to allow some innocents to be executed in order to save more from would-be murderers who do not commit crimes out of fear of the death penalty. Van den Haag is satisfied as long as the number of innocents killed is less than without the death penalty whereas Turrow is against any system in which the innocent may be wrongfully given a death sentence. Something potentially overlooked by Van den Haag is that there may be more consequences to capital punishment being accepted than the accidental killing of innocents. The very idea that ones government may wrongfully convict you for a crime you did not commit could fray the trust that should theoretically exist between a citizen and the government designed to protect him or her. While this argument could certainly be made for any sort of crime, both authors make the distinction in the death penaltys irrevocability. If one has faith that the system may eventually discover its error (by no means certain), then a jail term can be ended and the victim compensated but this is not possible with death. This fear on the part of the citizen could lead to a lack of cooperation or assistance with the police in a case for fear that they will become a suspect. However, the argument that we should not inflict the death penalty because we may sentence the wrong person to death deserves a bit more analysis. The common point made by both authors is that it may be better to give a life-in-prison sentence because then any mistakes in conviction may be found and reversed. However, if this does not actually happen then this weakness of capital punishment does not actually exist. It would be worthwhile to examine statistics of how many prisoners serving life sentences are found to be innocent and released. This would give us insight as to how many innocent lives would be lost were capital punishment allowed, and be a mark in favor of prohibiting it. In other words, if life-in-prison sentences are never overturned then prisoners given them in lieu of the death penalty have no chance of being released so the increased chance of righting the wrong does not actually exist. Granted, this theoretical wrongfully accused person does gain life-in-prison as opposed to execution, but this seems like small consolation to a man who committed no crime. This is a measurable quantity, one that I suspect will come down in favor of prohibition. Of course, as with any objection to a utilitarian viewpoint, as the numbers become more and more extreme our convictions seem less concrete. Would we allow the wrongful execution of one man in order to deter the murders of one million? Because this case is quite unlikely, it does not bear much weight in my considerations. In this paper I have outlined reasons for which Turrow would object most strongly to Van den Haags defense of capital punishment on the grounds of justice, namely that wrongfully executing someone is far worse than failing to deter a murderer from doing the same. I have then considered the justice-based arguments of both authors and decided that, despite potential lives saved and pending statistical reinforcement, the societal consequences of capital punishment outweigh its benefits.

Curley’s Wife: Floozy or Innocent Girl? Essay

Curley’s wife is a young, pretty woman, who is mistrusted by her husband, Curley. The other characters refer to her only as ‘Curley’s wife,’ which is significant as she is the only character in the novel without a name. She is a simple object or possession belonging to her husband and this shows the severity of the sexual discrimination in America in 1930s. I believe Steinbeck would have thought of her not as a person but a symbol. Almost everyone on the ranch is lonely and she symbolises this. The audience would come to believe she is a weak isolated character however, the men are fearful of her. She is the wife of their boss. She has power and this power creates fear among the ranch workers. She is both in charge and screaming for attention. When we first meet Curley’s wife, the description of her suggests she is clearly overdressed for life on a ranch. ‘Her fingernails were red’ and she wore ‘red mules, on the insteps of which w ere little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.’ The repetition of the red suggests danger. This could be a warning about trouble in the future. Danger creates fear and the workers on the ranch definitely fear her. She has the power to dismiss them from their jobs or even have them lynched as she is the boss’s wife. This ‘Miss Dynamite’ image is supported by the fact that George thinks she will be trouble. He calls her a ‘tramp’, ‘poison’ and tells Lennie (who has taken a shine to her) to ‘leave her be’. He sees her as a threat and doesn’t want Lennie to get involved with someone who could potentially lose them their jobs. The audience begins to dislike this woman. This highlights the prejudice against women at the time. She comes across as a confident flirt when in company due to her body language. The first description of her includes ‘..so that her body was thrown forward’. This gesture suggests that she almost throws herself at men. George called her a ‘tramp’ and her actions are beginning to fulfill this opinion of her. I think some would view this as disappointing. Women were mainly seen in whore houses at the time. The fact that Curley’s wife had found herself a husband, lived on a ranch and not in a whore house, suggests she is a ‘good girl’. We want her to be different from the general view of women at the time which had been brought about by prejudice. Unfortunately she comes across as no different. This continues in chapter 5, when Curley’s wife consoles Lennie. ‘She moved closer’ is repeated showing how she continuously reduces the distance between herself and Lennie. It suggests she is forward and flaunting herself at him. The audience could start to feel uncomfortable and anxious at this point. This could be the moment of danger that was foreshadowed in the beginning. She seems to be the powerful Miss Dynamite. However, there are so many implications that she is a lonely victim. After she is killed there is a poignant moment in the book. The long sentences emphasise the movement of peace, time standing still before the men find her body. All the negative aspects of the character disappear and we feel sympathy for her. She tries to convey glamour and sophistication when really she is just a sweet country girl. Steinbeck describes her as ‘very pretty’, ‘simple’ and ‘sweet’ when dead. The audience now realise the simplicity of her true self. ‘†¦the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face’ shows that she is at peace. She doesn’t have to pretend anymore. She has been putting on an act. She had a dream which we only become aware of in this chapter to become a film star in Hollywood. One theme in the book is the American dream. Lennie and George have one. However, it is suggested that this is unreachable as George talks of them owning ‘red and blue and green rabbits’ which gives the American dream a fantasy quality. The fact that Curley’s wife still seems to believe in her dream gives her a naivety and we feel more sympathy for her and the audience warm to her. I think this is the point in the book (when Steinbeck reveals her true character) that the audience can look back over the book and think of her differently, as the lonely victim. For instance, she is constantly searching for her husband which could be an excuse to mingle with the other men. ‘I’m looking for Curley’ could have a hidden meaning and she could be desperate for some attention if she is lonely. The loneliness of her character is supported by the scene with Lennie in Chapter 5. She tells Lennie the about herself and her dream. She is so desperate to talk to someone and for someone to listen. ‘.. her words tumbled out in a passion of communication’ shows how desperate she is to share her story. This desperation continues when ‘she went on with her story quickly, before she could be interrupted.’ This could be seen as her being conceited. On the other hand, she could just be overwhelmed that someone is actually listening to her so she wants to say everything before it becomes too good to be true and Lennie loses interest. This implies she has no one to talk to which is saddening as it shows how isolated she must be. This isolation is emphasised further when she can’t even connect with Lennie. The one person who she starts to befriend turns out to be too good to be true. ‘Don’t you think of nothing but rabbits?’ shows that Lennie isn’t really listening. They lose what was a potentially beautiful connection. In conclusion, Curley’s wife dreams of being Miss Dynamite but is really only the lonely victim. Her dream was to be a film star in Hollywood but she finds herself living on a ranch. One of her strengths is her status in society as the boss’s wife but apart from this she seems to be the lonely victim through and through even though she tries to cover it up with her ‘glam’ image. She hides behind a mask and the audience only realise when she dies.

Equality And Inclusion In Health And Social Care Essay

Outcome 1.1 Explain what is meant by Diversity – Understanding that every individual is different, and being able to recognise and individuals unique differences, whether it be age, race, gender etc. Equality – Every person being treated equally and fairly regardless of cultural backgrounds, sexuality, beliefs. Inclusion – Being included without being limited or restricted, and irrespective of differences such as disabilities embracing individuals to make them feel included. Outcome 1.2 Describe ways in which discrimination may deliberately or inadvertently occur in the work setting A person being treated differently or unfairly because they are from a different race or from a different culture. Discrimination inadvertently can happen when a certain group of people feel restricted or limited from something like a general rule that applies to all only being written in English, excluding members from other cultural backgrounds and creating a barrier. Outcome 1.3 Explain how practices that support equality and inclusion reduce the likelihood of discrimination Treating another person as you equal, engaging and including them will have a positive effect and therefore reduce the likelihood of discrimination. Read more: What is meant by inclusion in health and social care  essay Outcome 2.1 Identify which legislation and codes of practice relating to equality, diversity and discrimination apply to own role Equality Act GSCC – The General Care Council Human Rights Act Outcome 2.3 Describe how to challenge discrimination in a way that encourages change Being positive towards co workers and service users, promoting positive behaviour will make other people feel positive and hopefully change their opinions and actions in the future. Outcome 3.1 Identify a range of sources of information, advice and support about diversity Library Internet Colleagues Policies and procedures Work based training Outcome 3.2 Describe how and when to access information, advice and support about diversity, equality and inclusion You can access this information by asking your line manager and also in the policy and procedures, if you feel someone is being treated unfairly the information should be dealt with as soon as possible

Myers Surname Meaning and Origin

Myers Surname Meaning and Origin The surname Myers or Myer is usually either of German or British origin, depending upon the country of the particular family. The German origin of the surname Myers has the meaning steward or bailiff, as in the magistrate of a city or town.​The English origin of the surname has three possible sources:   A patronymic surname meaning son of the mayor,  from  the Old English  maire  (maior)  meaning  mayor.A topographic surname for someone who lived near a marsh, or someone with mire (swampy, low-lying land) in the town name,  from the Old Norse myrr meaning marsh.Possibly a surname derived from the Old French  mire  meaning physician.   Myers can also be an  Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Ó Midhir, likely a variant of Ó Meidhir, meaning mayor.   Myers is the 85th most popular surname in the United States. Surname Origin:  English, German Alternate Surname Spellings:  MYER, MEYERS, MEYER, MEERS, MEARS, MEARES, MYARS, MYRES, MIERS, MIARES, MYERES Famous People with the Surname MYERS Michael John Mike Myers: Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, and film producerStephenie Meyer: American author, best known for her Twilight book seriesJonathan Rhys Meyers: Irish actorWalter Dean Myers: American authorErnest Myers:  English poet, classicist, and author Where Do People With the MYERS Surname Live? Myers is the worlds 1,777th most common surname, according to surname distribution data from  Forebears, found most prevalently in the United States. It is most common based on a percentage of the population in Liberia, where it ranks 74th. It is a little less common in Canada, Australia, and England, where it ranks 427th, 435th and 447th respectively. Myers is especially common on Prince Edward Island, Canada, according to  WorldNames PublicProfiler. Within the United States, Myers is found most frequently in the states of West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kansas and Ohio. Genealogy Resources for the Surname MYERS 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Myers Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Myers family crest or coat of arms for the Myers surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.   MYERS Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Myers surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Myers query. FamilySearch - MYERS GenealogyAccess over 9 million free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Myers surname and its variations on this free genealogy website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MYERS Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Myers surname. DistantCousin.com - MYERS Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Myers. The Myers Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Myers from the website of Genealogy Today. References: Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Looking for Alibrandi Essay Example

Looking for Alibrandi Essay Example Looking for Alibrandi Essay Looking for Alibrandi Essay She feels caught in a claustrophobic trap between family lives obsessed with tradition, a trice disciplined Catholic school and trying to find herself and her position as a teenage girl. Throughout the novel Josses is constantly changing her views on people, and experiences her share of emotional upheaval as she comes to realize that a perfect world consists of more than Just gorgeous hairstyles, rich boyfriends and social privileges. It is a common representation throughout the novel that Josses Librarian is a selfish and egotistical girl whose internal angst and whose conflict with others all stemmed from her expectations that others should conform to meet her deeds. This can be seen In her Interactions with her close family members Christina. Nana and Michael. She also selfish towards her friends John and Jacob. Josses and her mothers relationship Is rocky, this Is shown when Josses attacks her mothers desires to go out on a date. Josses was constantly reminded of her mothers failures and sacrifices she made while raising Josses as a single mother. As Nonna lied to Josie and her relatives that Josie’s father died before Christina gave birth to Josie, thus Christina and Josie are misunderstanding to Nonna and also did not accept with what she did. It shows the differences in generation’s point of view towards Christina’s pregnancy. Furthermore, â€Å"Looking for Alibrandi† also displays relationships in a lot of depth, for instance, the relationships between Josie and Michael Andretti, Jacob Coote and John Barton. Josie meets Michael Andretti angrily because he left Josie’s mother when she got pregnant; therefore Josie became illegitimate child with no father. However, when Josie feels helpless and struggle after she hits Carly’s nose, she can only think about Michael to help her as a barrister and father. This event demonstrates that Josie really wants to and be proud of having father; they had more trust and build up the father- daughter relationships too. Josie’s final year of high school transforms her from the childhood world of dependence on her mother to dealing with adults like Michael Andretti and Jacob Coote. Jacob, the school captain of Cook High School, Josie calls him an ‘individualist’, because he has a strong personality, sensitive and independent as a typical Australian. Jacob feels uncomfortable in unfamiliar situations as he finds it difficult to understand with Josie’s Italian cultural background, he does not respect and think the traditions should not be maintained. For example, once, Jacob gave a sexual advance to Josie, but she is unwillingness to make love and told Jacob clearly that Italian thinking is more traditional and different to Australian’s. Sexual activity is not by accepted to Italian, but Australian just sees this as a normal practise. By comparison between Jacob Coote and John Barton, they are both Australian, but living in very different attitudes and family. John has weak and low self-image who comes from a well-educated family. Josie admires him and they have a very good relationship, but Josie did not realise that John is very upset as he is under a lot of pressure by his father to become ‘the best prime minster’, therefore, John’s father and people around John have a high expectation of him. As a result, John gets a lot of pressure that he thinks no one would understand him. John’s pressure from unconfident about passing the HSC, forces him to commit suicide. This does upset Josie but it also makes her a lot more resilient too. â€Å"Looking for Alibrandi†, also illustrates many prejudices between rich and poor people, and the racial prejudice. St. Martha is Josie’s school which is â€Å"dominated by white Australian†, high-class and rich people. Children of wealthy migrants accepted because of their wealth, which cause a social discrimination as Josie finds hard to cope in this school with her strong Italian and middle working class family background. The novel shows that although Australia is a multicultural society, but it still has racist problems with people from different culture backgrounds. Melina Marchetta always uses the word â€Å"Wog†, which is an offensive word to coloured skin people especially Italian, which is throughout the whole novel to inspire readers in racist issues. For instant, Ivy comes from high-class Australian family, who is not accept Josie as an Australia, but a completely Italian immigrant with strong Italian culture background. This idea is clearly expressed in these words â€Å"You’re a new Australians wear black a lot don’t you Josephine? â€Å"Looking for Alibrandi† emphasises some important cultural, relationship and social and racial prejudices among people from different cultural background. It examines the strength and resilience of Josie to cope with the relationship with family, John Barton’s dead and Jacob Coot’s sexual advance, and the intolerance of Italian traditions by Nonna. This novel makes readers aware of to see the beauty in other culture, because the world has many different cultures, we need to be respect, although there may have something that you may not except.

Jameson (2007) has defined geography as one of the possible components Essay

Jameson (2007) has defined geography as one of the possible components of cultural identity needed for cross cultural communicat - Essay Example The operations of a multinational corporation are often performed in a multicultural environment and their successes require the managers to have deeper insights about these forces. The managers of such organization cannot succeed in the global market if they only have an understanding of their domestic cultures (Becker, 2000, p.2). One of the components that constitute the culture of a group is the geographical location. This paper focuses on geography as determinant of culture as well as how managers can utilize it in corporate management. Thesis Geography is an important component culture that has to be considered when planning operational strategies like products/ services promotion, setting prices, advertising or market segmentation. The Culture of a Group of Individuals The culture of a particular group of people defines the way of life that is practiced by these people. It entails the social laws, values, beliefs, and practices that are considered appropriate for life among a given group of people. It has been termed as the ‘coherent, learned, shared view of a group of people about life’s concern that ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about what things are appropriate, and dictates behavior’ (Jameson, 2007, p.210). The individuals in a given geographical location will tend to share beliefs and values that define their culture. The culture will define what the group of individuals consider right or wrong and it provides a check to the acceptable behavior of the individuals within the group. The culture of a particular group of people can emerge from different dimensions. It can be defined biologically, geographically, by the language, at places of work (vocation), through a social class, or based on some philosophical principles (Jameson, 2007, p.210). The culture of a given community also affects the consumer behavior in the community (Onkvisit and Shaw, 2008, p.185). The language as another important component of culture i s very influential in the ability of individuals to interact in a multicultural environment. As one traverses across cultures, he will experience tone variations in different language, ethnic or racial groups. An individual that is to operate in such diverse cultural settings is required to be conversant with the language perceptions in these distinct groups. Geography as a key Component of Culture Geography is an important component of culture that has to be considered by businesses that operate on the global scene. It has been noted that the culture of a given group of individuals can be defined by different factors. The geographical location of a group of people is one important component of their culture that creates distinct cultural groups. Individuals can develop a given culture because they are of the same nationality (Jameson, 2007, p.213). Similarly, within the national boundaries are further differences that may reflect on the culture. The way of life of individuals in a given region within a country can be significantly different from the way of life in another part of the country. The life style in the cities and other urban regions in a given country may not be the same as the life style in the rural areas. The attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors of these groups of individuals often differ. Such

Federalism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Federalism - Term Paper Example Federalism in the US has evolved in the course of the nation’s history from Dual Federalism between 1789 and 1945 after WWII, to Cooperative Federalism between 1945 and 1969 and finally New Federalism from 1969 to present (Robertson, 2012). However, there were also some changes to federalism between Dual Federalism and Cooperative Federalism, especially those occasioned by the 1861-1868 Civil War followed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Then industrialization and globalization that set in between 1865 and 1945, which culminated in the federal government taking over power from state governments when Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency made efforts to revive the economy after the Great Depression. The nation’s first 150 years were described by Dual Federalism, where the Constitution provided for state and national governments. The national government presided over national defense, fostering commerce and foreign policy. On the other hand, state governments dealt with crim inal law, economic regulation and local issues. Each having a distinct area of jurisdiction, the two governments rarely overlapped. Cooperative Federalism marked the intertwining of state and federal authority, where it became difficult to demarcate the beginning and end of the authority of each type of government because they both administered numerous federal programs simultaneously. However, in order to finance their own programs and initiatives, states heavily relied on the federal government for funds.