Monday, September 30, 2019

Hip Replacement

BSN-3B1 Critical Thinking Exercise Nursing Management of the Client with Total Hip Replacement Situation: A 72-year-old male client is being discharged home from the hospital following hip replacement surgery. In addition to the prevention of other complications, the staff has made every effort to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: the two most common causes of postoperative mortality in older clients. Prior to discharge, the nurse gives the client a list of instructions for positioning, sitting, and ambulating at home.The client is also instructed to use a walker or crutches until weight bearing is safe, and to employ adaptive devices for everyday activities. Finally, the client is advised to watch for any signs of hip prosthesis loosening or dislocation, and to call the surgeon immediately if such signs occur. 1. What are the signs and symptoms of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism? Deep Vein Thrombosis * Swelling of the leg or along a vein in the leg * P ain or tenderness in the leg, which you may feel only when standing or walking * Increased warmth in the area of the leg that's swollen or painful * Red or discolored skin on the legPulmonary Embolism * Unexplained sudden onset of shortness of breath * Chest pain or discomfort that worsens when you take a deep breath or when you cough * Feeling lightheaded or dizzy, or fainting * Rapid pulse * Sweating * Coughing up blood * A sense of anxiety or nervousness 2. What types of adaptive equipment is available for clients who have undergone hip replacement surgery? Adaptive equipment to help in daily activities: * Reaching – use a reacher in getting items from cabinets or off the floor. Do not bend over to pick up something from the floor. Dressing – since you are not to bend past 90 degrees, use adaptive devices to be as independent as you can when dressing. -Wear slip-on shoes or use elastic shoelaces so you will not have to bend over to tie your shoes. -A long-handled sh oe horn will help you put shoes on or take stockings and socks off. -A dressing stick may be used to put on pants. * Use the hook to catch the waist of underwear or pants. * Place your operative leg first in the pants when dressing, and take it outlast when undressing. * Pull the slacks up over your knees. * Stand with the walker in front of you and pull your slacks up. Socks and Stockings – a stocking aid will make it easier to put on socks or stockings. Elastic stockings may be ordered for you. * Slide the sock or stocking onto the stocking aid. Be sure the heel is at the back of the plastic and the toe is tight against the end. * Secure the sock in place with the notches on the plastic piece. Do not pull the top of the sock over the top of the plastic piece. * Holding onto the cords, drop the stocking aid out in front of the operated foot. * Slip your foot into the sock and pull it on. * Release the sock from the notches on the plastic piece using your dressing stick or re acher. To take the stocking or sock off, use the hook on the dressing stick or reacher to hook the back of the heel and push the sock off your foot. * Using the Bathroom * A raised toilet seat may be helpful to you at home. It will keep you from bending too far when sitting or standing. The higher seat also makes it easier to stand up from the toilet. * Clean yourself after toileting as you are used to, just be careful not to bend too far forward or twist too much at the hip. * Bathing – unless you have a walk-in shower, you will have to learn a new method for getting in and out of the bathtub.Do not sit down into the tub for 6 to 12 weeks. * If possible, have someone help you the first time you bathe at home. * You may sponge bathe until you are comfortable or have help to shower. * If you have a walk-in shower, you may stand and shower as long as you feel steady and balanced. * If you have a tub shower and need to sit to bathe, you will need a shower bench. Make sure the sh ower bench is placed firmly in the tub. Have someone adjust the height of the shower bench so it is as tall as it can be to allow you to rest your feet comfortably on the floor of the tub when you are sitting. Have someone put non-skid strips or pads in your bathtub for safety. * Have a secure place to put your soap to avoid dropping it. Try soap on a rope or a deep soap dish. These items are sold at many department stores. * Use a long-handled sponge or bath brush to reach your lower legs and feet without bending more than 90 degrees at your hips. * A portable shower hose may be helpful. * Turn on cold water first to avoid burning yourself. * Getting In and Out of Bed * You will get in and out of bed on the same side as you had surgery. A hospital bed may be needed at home. Your physical therapist, nurse and case manager will talk withyou about this if needed. * Some people find it helpful to wear pajamas made of silky materials to help them slide more easily on the sheets. * You w ill need someone to carry youroperative leg as you use your arms and non-operative leg to scoot yourself in and out of bed. * Sitting – use a hip cushion to help you sit safely and not break your hip precautions. The cushion adds height to help keep your knees lower than your operative hip when you are sitting.It also may make it easier for you to stand up. If you are not sure about the height of a chair, put your cushion on it to be safe. * Getting Into a Car – it is important to know how to get into the car in a safe manner. It is better for you to ride in a mid-size or large car with regular bench seats rather than bucket seats. Use a thick pillow or cushion. On a long trip, be sure to make frequent rest stops, about every 30 minutes. Get out and shift your weight from one leg to the other or walk around. The best choice after a total hip replacement is to ride in the back seat . What are the signs of prosthetic hip dislocation and how can this problem be prevented? * Hip Pain * Uneven Leg Lengths * Numbness Acute phase complications -sciatic nerve damage -inability to perform closed reduction – recurring dislocation Recovery phase complications -avascular necrosis -arthritis, chondrolysis -myositis ossificans Precautions: -Do not cross your legs at the knees. -Do not twist at the hip. -Do not bend your hip past 90 degrees. (This means you are not to bend over at your waist or lift your knee higher than your hip if you are sitting)

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Supply and Demand Paper

Supply and Demand Paper Sandra Mendoza XECO/212 November 18, 2012 Linda LaCoste Supply and Demand 1 I have had the experience of purchasing a few different items that are listed as choices to choose from, but I choose to go with my most recent purchase, my college education. My college education has been one of the most important decisions I have made.I knew that I had to take this decision seriously and not just jump into it without all the information I needed since this was going to be a long term commitment financially. Understanding the pros of getting my college education with a degree in business management out weighted any con that I could come up with. Since I was graduated from Tehachapi high school the demand for a college degree has increase. Both my mother and father never attended college and both were very successful people in the careers they choose.My father owned his own electrical business and my mother was the lead accountant at the California department of corre ctions. A collage education or degree was not as sought after to have a good job or career as it is today. My father started his own business at the age of 25 years old and has learned many successful skills through his years to be a successful business owner. Today many businesses are requiring a degree to work for them. The company that I currently am working for requires a degree to move up with in the company.You can start working for them at the bottom of the totem poll, but in order to advance and make more money they want the employees to have a degree. They are even willing to pay for part of your tuition as long as you pass the classes with at least a C average. The tuition reburcment played a big role in making the decision to go to college. Although I have a few years of experience in management, in order for me to move up, have more job security and a better knowledge of the type of management I am doing, I knew I needed to take the leap.I know that earning this degree; will provide me with more opportunities with my company. Supply and Demand 2 There are many factors when concerning the supply and demand that can cause changes to consumers going to college. The main factors that could cause changes are the consumer’s income levels and the employer’s expectations of having a college degree. If consumers can’t afford to pay for a college education, than they are more likely to wait and settle for any job that can help them meet their bare requirements to pay their bills.The second factor is if employers do not require for their employees to have a degree or college education. If employers were not requiring these standards, more consumers will not be willing to pay the extra expense for something they are not required to have. Consumers are not willing to pay an expense for something that is not going to help them secure a job or advancement with a company. There are a few substitutes for consumers not wanting to pay for a colle ge education.One of these would be for the consumer to become an intern for a particular place. This would allow the individual to test drive the career before they start investing time and money into college, and they will get on – the – job training. This could give individuals a taste of a particular job field to determine if it would be worth the investment for them. Vocational trainings can be offered locally and through other larger organizations free of charge. These trainings can be very rewarding experiences for consumers.AmeriCorps and Peace Corps have volunteer opportunities lasting anywhere from 10-27 months that provide small living stipend as well as healthcare and childcare benefits. Some may even qualify for educational awards for future college expenses. References http://www. investopedia. com/financial-edge/0611/6-alternatives-to-going-to-college. aspx#axzz2CcogXWBG) www. nytimes. com – Burden of College Loans on Graduates Grows By Tamar Lewin Published: April 11, 2011 http://www. investopedia. com/financial-edge/0611/6-alternatives-to-going-to-col

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Blood glucose regulation Essay

DISCUSSION 1. Explain how insulin changed plasma glucose concentration over the course of the experiment. The insulin changed the plasma glucose levels by raising dramatically from fasting to the one hour mark, but by hour 3 it droped again to almost the same levels as fasting. The glucagon remained almost the same on throughout the levels except that it lowered a bit 1 hour after the  meal. 2. Explain how glucagon changed plasma glucose concentration over the course of the experiment. Glucagon acts on liver cells to promote breakdown of glycogen into glucose and formation of glucose from lactic acid and certain amino acids. 3. Explain what caused the change in plasma ketone concentration over the course of the experiment. Ketones changed from high during fasting to lower after eating and even after hour three because it first they were needed to generate ATP but droped because they were not needed as much for fuel. 4. Explain how negative feedback caused the changes in plasma insulin concentration observed during the experiment. the level of blood glucose controls secretion of both glucagon and insulin via negative feedback. 5. Explain how negative feedback caused the changes in plasma glucagon concentration observed during the experiment. 6. The insulin/glucagon ratio changed over the course of the experiment indicating changes in glucose storage and changes in ability to increase blood glucose concentration via glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. State when glucose storage capability was highest and why. 7. State when glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis were highest and why. 1 hour post meal because that’s when there was the highest amount of sugar in the blood. 8. Explain how a high blood ketone level helps the body conserve blood  glucose. When the concentration of ketone bodies in the blood rises above normal the ketone bodies, most of which are acids, must buffered. 9. Restate your predictions that were correct and give the data from your experiment that supports them. Restate your predictions that were not correct and correct them, giving the data from your experiment that supports the correction. APPLICATION 1. During exercise, epinephrine and norepinephrine are released from the adrenal medulla. Epinephrine and norepinephrine have the same effect on plasma glucose levels as glucagon. Explain how epinephrine and norepinephrine affect plasma glucose and why this is important during exercise. Epinephrine and norepinephrine will be released by the adrenal medullae in response to stress. During exercise the brain will release epinephrine and norepinephrine because it has been told that the body needs to adjust to the new demand that must be met. Which means that the heart rate needs to increase in order to support itself and work efficiently. 3. The symptoms of diabetes mellitus include high plasma glucose levels and ketoacidosis (blood pH decreases due to increasing levels of ketones). Explain how diabetes causes these symptoms. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a dangerous complication of diabetes mellitus because the chemical balance of the body becomes too acidic.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Henry the first and henry the second Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Henry the first and henry the second - Essay Example Henry also initiated many reforms by appointing officials who administered justice impartialy and sought to restrict the abuse of power by local barons. He won the praise of the local population for his propotionate use of justice to curb the power by the nobility. His era is also marked by peace with the Church which was in dispute during the reign of his brother. Henry also married from the old English nobility which was a major step towards the unification of English and Norman people. King Henry II was another famous king of England who presided over many political, legal and religious reforms during his time period. One of his reforms was to curb the power of rebellious barons who had created their own castles and refused to provide military assistance to the King. Henry II also initiated the royal control of the church. He also strove to create a fairer legal system which would administer justice for the common people. This paper studies the legal and political reforms of both Kings. Finally the paper contrasts the reforms of these Kings. Henry I ascended the throne of England in 1100 after defeating his elder brother, Robert Curthose in 1106. He initiated many legal and political reforms which transformed England. He passed the Charter of Liberties which restricted the monarch in his dealings with the church and nobility. The charter rectified many abuses which were perpetrated during the time period of William Rufus, the previous monarch. This charter reduced the number of taxes imposed on the barons in order to prevent them from being rebellious1. Other abuses were the crimes of simony which was making profits out of sacred things. The Charter of Liberties also addressed the issue of pluralism in which land was gifted to priests and bishops for the services that they had rendered for the church2. Henry developed an effective and efficient bureaucracy which would rule and operate the kingdom in

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Duties Owed by Agents to their Principals May or May not be Essay

The Duties Owed by Agents to their Principals May or May not be Dictated by the Express Terms of the Contracts Between them - Essay Example (2011). Q & A Commercial Law 2011-2012. Oxon: Taylor & Francis 6th ed. De Busccche v Alt (1878) 8 ChD 286 in Reddy, J., & Johnson, H. (2011). Q & A Commercial Law 2011-2012. Oxon: Taylor & Francis 6th ed. Headley Byrne & Co ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd (1964) AC 465 in Reddy, J., & Johnson, H. (2011). Q & A Commercial Law 2011-2012. Oxon: Taylor & Francis 6th ed. Robinson v Mollett (1875) LR 7 HL 802 in Reddy, J., & Johnson, H. (2011). Q & A Commercial Law 2011-2012. Oxon: Taylor & Francis 6th ed. Solley v Wood (1852) in Reddy, J., & Johnson, H. (2011). Q & A Commercial Law 2011-2012. Oxon: Taylor & Francis 6th ed. Turnbull v Garden (1869) 20 LT 218 145 in Reddy, J., & Johnson, H. (2011). Q & A Commercial Law 2011-2012. Oxon: Taylor & Francis 6th ed. Turpin v Bilton (1843) 5 Man & G 455 in The Law of Agency, The Law of International Trade and Carriage of Goods. Accessed 2 Nov 2011 Watteau v Fenwick [1893] 1 QB 346 in University of London External Programme Accessed 2 Nov 2011 Weigal l& Co v Runciman & Co (1916) 85 LJKB 1187 in Munday Roderick and Munday R.J.C. LJKB 1187 Agency; Law and Principles (2009) Oxford, Oxford University Press The duties owed by agents to their principals may or may not be dictated by the express terms of the contracts between them Agency is an exception to the doctrine of privity in a contract in that a principal is bound by all acts of his agent by virtue of an agreement between him and the agent. Both law and specific terms of contract between them govern the duties owed by agents to their principals. Although a contract of agency is subject to the same rules as in any other contracts, there are certain terms implied such as fiduciary relationship between the principal and the agent which gives rise duties owed to the principal by the agent and rights he can exercise against the principal. In addition, a type known as ‘commercial agent’ also is subject the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 pursuant t o European Union Law dealing with termination of agreement in respect of self-employed agents who arrange contracts for the sale or purchase of goods. As per these regulations, a duty is cast on the agents to act ‘dutifully and with good faith’ which term cannot be contracted out by a separate contract between them. Even in the case of gratuitous acts of an agent where there can be no contractual obligations, the agent has fiduciary duties which cannot be avoided merely because of lack of consideration. He will also be liable under torts. In Watteau v Fenwick (1893), hotel owner was held liable for the price of cigar bought by the manger who had been instructed not to buy other than mineral water and beer. This decision is still controversial since the agent acted against the instructions though the supplier assumed that the manager was the owner (Reddy & Johnson, 2011) (Sealy, Hooley, & Hooley, 2008). An agent’s duties regardless of the contractual terms between him and the principal are as follows. Duty to obey All lawful instructions of the principal must be obeyed by his agent. He should not also exceed his authority. This is applicable to both paid and gratuitous agent categories. However, if the instructions are not

Racial Tensions in Elderly-Care Home Setting Essay

Racial Tensions in Elderly-Care Home Setting - Essay Example The most evident query at this point is likely to question why racism is still rampant in the elderly care home setting whereas the rest of the United Kingdom seems to have seen the light. Why is it that racism has been forced out of the society and seemed to have entertained in these homes? There are correct responses to this query but only a handful are aware of them. In fact, most residents of the nation are not aware that racism is a common practice in these homes. Although many people are not open to the idea of taking their relatives to these homes, circumstances have forced many to do so as they are not in a position to offer the much needed care (Macrae 2012).As an effort to realise the reason behind the practice of racism in the elderly homes, it is initially appropriate to comprehend the factors that sets these home apart from society. Doing so allows one to be in a position to establish the precise factors that may to blame. These homes are meant to provide care to the eld erly in the society, a population that had to live in another generation that is very separate from the one that is in force today. The elderly is society are not very vibrant and the fact that they are few as compared to other age gaps means that their influence in society is minimal (Macrae 2012).However, bringing them together nurtures a very distinctive atmosphere that is far from the one that is in the rest of the UK society. Even though many elderly individuals may feel uncomfortable in these homes.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Art Management and Arts Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art Management and Arts Marketing - Essay Example An arts management course is deemed appropriate to hone the skills of arts enthusiasts and to enable them to develop programs, write grants, provide technical assistance and be responsible art managers. The artists themselves recognized the need to develop a program which would train students who are arts enthusiasts to focus on management of the arts. Accordingly, the important factors which need to be constantly improved are professionalism and relevant management techniques to assure the artists of success in their field of endeavor. What is the relevance of art management to cultural organizations? An arts management student would have direct beneficial contributions to the cultural sector by taking entrepreneurial roles in the development and management of artistic and cultural resources of a particular region. This means that art managers would take an active role in training artists in the management of their own cultural talents. As they enhance their expertise in this field, these art managers would be able to develop regional and international contacts with arts organizations, cultural agencies, and other art practitioners in the field. Finally, entrepreneurial insight and skills would be improved to transform cultural resources into sources of economic benefit for all concerned. (Details from the Postgraduate Diploma in Arts and Cultural Enterprise Management, www.sta.uwi.edu) There are a variety of agencies and institutions who would be interested in the services of an arts administrator or manager who completed an arts management course. The following opportunities are open for art managers: (1) experts in arts organizations; (2) consultants in crafts production industries; (3) book publishers; (4) film producers/directors; (5) events promoters and talent agents; (6) associates in museums and art galleries;

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Homework on trade policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Homework on trade policy - Assignment Example The imports from India will have very low prices in relation to the price of rice in France. The reduction in price will tend to shut off the market for local rice thus the infant industry in France. The France economy will tend to be dependent on the rice from India. The producers are worse of while the consumers initially are enough off but are subject to risks of food insecurity and lower quality of rice. The imposition of subsidies in the production of rice in India particularly when it has a low population will tend to raise the amount of rice. The scenario will change if the population is more in that the supply of rice will tend to exceed the demand. Therefore, the surplus will tend to reduce the price of rice significantly. The issuances of lump sum amounts of cash to the farmers will not necessary imply that the funds will be in use in the production of rice. Therefore, the change in supply will not be significantly different from the amount before the issuance of the funds. The term is unlike the imposition of

Monday, September 23, 2019

Within the Context of the Boundaryless Career Critically Analyse the Coursework - 1

Within the Context of the Boundaryless Career Critically Analyse the Challanges Faced by Graduate in a Volatile Global Economy - Coursework Example The theoretical underpinnings of the concept are explored along with criticisms meted out since its conception. Additionally, it looks at how globalisation has impacted the traditional organisation in such a way that organisations are now operating not only outside of their physical location but are moving aspects of their operations to other locations. Furthermore, it points to the increasing need of graduates to be well rounded and be given the skills and knowledge required for them to be able to think outside of the box as well as for them to be able to apply themselves in any given situation. Theoretical Perspective The notion of the boundaryless career was introduced by Arthur (1994) and has become a very popular concept (Pringle and Mallon 2006, p. 839). According to Arthur et al (qtd. in Arthur and Rousseau 1996, p. 4) the term career refers to â€Å"the unfolding sequence of a person’s work experiences over time.† This definition indicates the importance of time . It impacts â€Å"employment stability; skills and experience gained; relationships nurtured; and opportunities encountered† Arthur and Rousseau (1996). According to Sullivan (1999, p. 457) the way we view career has changed significantly. It is tradition that the careers of most individuals will evolve within the context of one or two organisations. ... This is in stark contrast to the boundaryless career where skills are transferable (see Appendix). Arthur (1994, p. 296) points out that boundaryless career is the opposite of organisational or bounded careers. Pringle and Mallon (2006, p. 841) indicates that this concept was developed to distinguish itself from the ‘bounded’ – organisational career and therefore ‘to avoid the subordination of the meaning of careers’ to that which is represented in larger and more stable firms. DeFillippi and Arthur (1996, p. 116) defines boundaryless career as â€Å"sequences of job opportunities that goes beyond the boundaries of a single employment settings.† This thinking relates to and is in response to the changing economic context at the time and appears to be in keeping with some of the tenets of globalisation which is a critical factor in the challenges affecting the traditional organisational career. However, globalisation is about interdependence whi ch would invalidate the independence assumption of the boundaryless career. Therefore, Tam and Arthur (2010) indicates that the relevance of this concept â€Å"will depend on its openness to the challenges of careers within the inherently dynamic, uncertain, and complex arena of an interdependent global economy†. Sullivan (1999) points to some important characteristics of boundaryless career when compared with traditional careers - see Appendix. As organisations make changes careers are affected. The quest for increasing profitability and in some cases, mere survival, has led firms to move certain aspects of their business to other countries and this means that jobs are also moving with them. This therefore supports the changes that will inevitably lead to boundaryless careers. According to Brown et al (2006, p.5)

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Estimating the Demand for Money Essay Example for Free

Estimating the Demand for Money Essay We all know that money employed in consumption sustains life and gives pleasure, but it does not lead to economic growth. Money employed for investment increases productive capacity, thereby increasing wealth available for consumption investment in the future. Use of money for both consumption investment leads to employment but later reaps future benefits. The quantity theory of money posits that the value of money is equal to the collective supply of goods and services in an economy. The value of money could be called the aggregate clearing price for the aggregate supply aggregate demand in an economy. A condition in which the aggregate clearing price is below the aggregate costs of production would be symptomatic of gross misallocations of resources in an economy but this kind of condition is not theoretically impossible. Ending of wars that includes cold wars are often associated with massive reallocations of productive resources and these reallocations can involve painful periods of readjustment. â€Å"Artificial bubbles† resulting from central banker manipulation of money and interest cause boom bust misallocations. Regarded money as nothing but a means to facilitate barter, the aggregate supply of goods and services represents the wealth of society. If everyone woke up one morning to find every dollar replaced by one hundred dollars, no one would be wealthier or poorer because wages and prices had two additional zeroes. Nor would there be any change in either aggregate supply or demand. The concept of aggregate supply to represent the wealth of society can be misleading. Most homeowners would sell their house if offered an outrageously high price for it. In that sense, nearly all existing homes are part of the aggregate supply. But in the normal course of events, homeowners are slowly consuming their houses by living in them and are not considering an immediate sale although the thought of eventual re-sale is usually in their minds. Similarly, most capitalists would sell their factories if offered a high price, but are primarily focused on increasing the productivity of those factories and ensuring that the factories produce goods for which demand is high. Money works magic in the minds of many economists which transform simple relationships into complex conceptual nightmares. Say’s Law one monetary interpretation holds that the costs of production (paid for labor, land and capital goods) results in the incomes essential for purchasing output. Moving this argument further, critics of Says Law express concern that all the income will not be spent concerning that some money will be saved or even hoarded. Thinking that it is better to save the money than to spend it that result to manufacturing decline, unemployment and recession. But the confident consumer who saves and invests actually benefits the economy more than the consumer who spends. Invested capital provides the means to hire labor and other factors of production that increase employment and wealth. Vision of economic activity as a circular flow of money between spenders earners blinded him to the nature of wealth-creation, productive incentives, productivity increase and economic growth. The economic benefits of savings should not be justified on the grounds that savings is another form of spending. On the contrary, savings is the source of capital accumulation. Capital technological progress is the source of economic growth. Capital means plant, equipment, technology, research and employees to make new products. Consumers can only keep an economy from recession if they are employed in productive activity. If unemployment is low and those employed are producing useful goods services, then an economy can remain healthy. High consumer spending is more an effect than a cause of the economic well-being associated with low unemployment. Consumer confidence is expected to be high if unemployment is low. Recession is not just a national bad mood. Unemployed consumers who spend money received from government destroy consume wealth without producing wealth. Economic growth occurs only if the consumer is also a producer. In empirical method it determines the relationships between economic variables through observation or experiment. The Baumol-Tobin model provides the foundation for most empirical studies of money demand. The Capital Asset Pricing Model, while important in financial economics, is viewed to be much less important in determining money demand. Most wealth is shifted under the speculative motive from long-term to short-term securities rather than money. The prices of short-term bonds do not change as much as long-term bonds and there is a default risk with money because of the limit to federal insurance on deposits. One of the difficulties in empirical work on money demand is that money demand adjusts to changes in income and interest rates with a lag. In other words, a change in income leads to a delayed change in money demand. Money demand may be slow to change because of adjustment costs, expectations may be slow to adjust or may hold that a change in income or interest rates is in part temporary. Consequently, empirical studies of money demand look at both short-term and long-term responses to changes in macroeconomic conditions. An increase in the interest rate reduces the demand for M1 money as expected, but the effect is small. An increase in the interest rate from 4 to 5 percent (a 25 percent increase) reduces money demand in the short run by 0. 5 percent (= 0. 02 x 25%). The long run response is about a 1. 25 percent reduction in money demand. An increase in the interest rate from 10 to 11 percent produces even smaller money demand responses. There is an extensive literature on the theory of money demand and the influencing factors. In general, the real money balances are related to some scale measure, such as income or wealth, and some opportunity cost measures, such as inflation, interest and exchange rates. There are various discussions on the form of the money demand function and the selection of the variables entering in the equation. Thus the choice of economic indicators varies in different country experiences due to the distinction in different financial systems. The choice of an appropriate monetary aggregate for the estimation of a meaningful money demand function is complicated. Either a broad or a narrow definition of money can be used as the monetary variable depending on the issue of the monetary authorities. Generally it may be thought that a narrow definition of money like monetary base or M1 tends to be more flexible and reactive to market operations and thus to interest rate policies. Narrow money can have a close relationship with prices since it can easily be influenced by economic variables, however it cannot always be adequate to capture all the information related to the financial system. Although narrowly defined aggregates are easy to control, their relationship with income appears subject to considerable variability. One main cause of this insufficiency is due to banking habits of money holders, as they wish to hold their savings not only in demand deposits, but also in time deposits or other different financial instruments. For that reason, a broader definition of money, such as M2 or M2X, can comprise a wider range of the financial system; however it may be less sensitive to the changes in the economy. The scale variable measuring the level of economic activity is the first determinant of the money demand function. The holding of money and thus the demand for money are related to the volume of the transactions, using the fact that the amount of the transactions is proportional to the level of income. Either a wealth variable or an income variable can be used as a scale variable. Generally, when wealth data is not available, an income variable like the Gross National Product or Gross Domestic Product can be taken into consideration. Money demand is directly proportional to income, but inversely related to market interest rates and yields on different financial assets. The interest rate concerning time deposits is thought to be the nominal return of holding money if the broad definition of money is considered, hence has a positive sign in the money demand equation. Another important variable which measures the rate of return of an opportunity cost is the interest rate on government securities. As currency substitution can occur either by switching into foreign denominated deposits or by switching to bonds or securities, the rate of interest on government securities is a measure of the rate of return of an opportunity cost, and its expected sign in the equation is therefore negative. The relationship between inflation and the demand for money has been studied widely. If there are high fluctuations in prices, the rate of inflation becomes an important determinant of the money demand function. Money demand is inversely related to predictable inflation rate since an increase in inflation increases the cost of holding money. Especially, in developing countries, the long run inflation elasticity is generally expected to be high as the range of financial instruments outside money is limited and real assets represent a substantial part of the public’s portfolio (Nachega, 2001). Like in Turkish economy that is subject to not only a high degree of price level but also a high variability in the prices, the price level has a considerable impact on the return of financial assets; as money holders will have difficulties in predicting the prices, the risk in saving money will raise and consequently the holding of money will tend to decrease. Since foreign exchange rate measures the rate of return on holding foreign currency, it is also an important determinant in the demand equation on holding foreign currency. The sign of exchange rate is negative since when the deposit holders increase their demand for foreign currencies, the domestic currency will depreciate. In an open economy, the return of foreign assets is usually denoted by some exchange rate variable, which may have an increasing role due to the high level of financial globalization. (Central Bank Review, 2002 pp. 55-65). Boughton (1992) presents the sources of disturbances that can affect the elasticities of variables in the long run equation. Inflation expectations varying over time is the first important factor that may affect real return of assets which is a vital element of the money demand equation. An inflationary expectation is generally proxied by the inflation rate, thus it is essential to examine the inflation data before inserting in the money demand equation. The change in exchange rate is the second important source of variability. Therefore the relationship between the exchange rate mechanism and the dynamics of real money balances is important, justifying the addition of the real effective exchange rate into the model.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

SWOT analysis of the borders company

SWOT analysis of the borders company According to the article Borders Group, Inc.; Borders Raises $25 Million Through Equity Financing to Support Key Financial and Strategic Initiatives (2010), Borders Group sold $25 million equity finances to financier Bennett LeBow in May 2009 so it could solve a company liquidity problem. This new capital budget will strengthen Borders balance sheet which recorded liabilities as $1.3 billion and stockholders equities as $262 million (Borders group, Inc., 2010). Moreover, Borders could provide capital to help fund the transformation of the Borders brand. These include improving the store network to increase profitability and productivity and maximizing the digital opportunity, including growing Borders.com. Launched eBook store to digital approach To compete with other company, Borders launched its eBook store with more than 1.5 million titles, including thousands of free titles, available in a variety of formats, including ePub, mobile and PDF (Borders opens, 2010). In addition, a company launched the Kobo eReader and Aluratek Libre eReader on Borders.com. Both devices, which are value-priced at under $150, have surpassed sales expectations. Moreover, to provide additional value around its digital offerings, Borders also offers free books to customers download Borders application (Borders offers, 2010). From its variety digital approach, Borders can achieve customer satisfaction. Weakness: Net losses in Waldenbooks Specialty Retail stores Borders had 468 Waldenbooks Specialty Retail stores in 2008 summer (Milliot, 2009). However, in 2009, Borders Waldenbooks Specialty Retail stores revenues decreased 8.5% (Borders Group Q4, 2010). It, moreover, is lesser consumers to go to shopping in shopping mall (Industry profile: Bookstores, 2010) so Borders has continually closed Waldenbooks stores since 2001 (Milliot, 2009). In addition, Borders closed 186 Waldenbooks Specialty Retail locations in the fourth quarter of 2009. The total 212 Waldenbooks stores were closed in 2009 fiscal year (Milliot, 2010). It seems that Waldenbooks stores are still a problem for Borders to burden net losses in several years. Missing multi-media approach Multi-media were the most significant impact in sales of the book industry because multi-media categories are low margin categories, such as music and video. Although Borders has already expanded their DVD movies section since 2006, Borders decided to decrease their multi-media section and more focused on book selling instead. As this result, in the second quarter of 2009, Borderss music sales were declined 51% and DVD sales were declined 48% (Borders Group, Inc. Q2, 2009). In fact, excluding multi-media, Borderss superstore comps declined by 13%. The sales of books are around 67% of the total sales in 2008 and 2009 (Milliot, 2010). Opportunities Strong growing in on-line retailing market The online retailing industry is increasing very fast because internet is becoming more and more popular. The data from Forester shows that the online retail sales reached $141 billion in 2008, which was an 11% increase. In the 2009, online retail sales reached $141 billion, which was a 13% increase, even faster increase than previous year (Reuters Research Inc., 2010). Borders internet service acquired a lot of experience in the past two years and the eBook is a new service which will be provided by borders in July 2, 2010. In this case, new strategies include online store and eBook which are using by Borders may help borders catch this opportunity. Increasing Book Industry The book market which Borders involves in is growing steadys because internet sales and many new assistant technologies like e-book are helping people to acquire and read books easily and conveniently. According to the report book industry trend (2009), book industrys net income would increase 4.4% to $37.3billion in 2008 from $35.7billion in 2009. Bensinger (2010) states that U.S. book sales will rise 5.8 percent from 2010 to 2015 and most of increasing are online book selling. This data clearly shows that book industry will become larger, especially the online book market, which is a great opportunity for borders to use digital strategies such as Borders.com and eBook to change the depression in the past 5 years. Threats The increasing minimum wages in US According to the article Tables calculators by subject (2010), the federal minimum wage rate increased $5.15 per hour in 1997 to reach $6.55 per hour in July, 2008 and it kept going to $8.55 per hour in 2009, and remains same in 2010. All of those increases were caused by a voter begins in 1998 relative with increased inflation rate and cost did not rise in that year (High paying, 2010). The increased minimum wages makes borders face a more serious environment. The higher cost of wages will increase burden of Borders since borders has approximately 25,000. The sharp decrease in revenue which caused by intense competition and increased cost of labors will further decrease the net income of Borders. The decrease of consumers in shopping malls of US The consumers gradually adapt to shop online and the traffic of shopping mall is gradually decreasing in US. Decreased mall consumers in US have made many retailers into trouble. Sales performance of malls in the U.S also becomes worse and excepted to remain in the same situation in the nearly future. Connolly (2009) states that Mall tenant sales declined to10.3% in Jan 2009, which is a slightly better performance than in November and December in 2008. In this case, Borders is a bookstore company which has physical stores and the companys Waldenbooks which is a brand based on mall. In this case, Borders consumer traffic also will be affected by the decrease of consumers in shopping malls and it is clearly that the profit of Borders also will be affected.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Role of Greed and Grievance in Civil War

Role of Greed and Grievance in Civil War The role that greed and grievance play in civil war is its emergence. Their role is a crucial and controversial one in the creation of civil wars. There have been various arguments concerning their role in its emergence, with most for greed as the key factor as the backbone of all conflict including civil war while a few others also consider grieves role. However, it is my opinion that both work hand in hand to create the violence that is civil war. Some could even see how one begets the other, legitimizing the creation of one through the existence of the other. Either way the role both greed and grieve play is one of an instigator. This paper will illustrates how both factors have intertwining roles in the occurrence of civil war; the aim is to show how one factors role influences the other and how one factors role can overlap and blur the other out. This will be done by looking at various explanations for civil war attributed to greed and grieve individually. To discuss these terms and their role in the emergence of civil war it is crucial to understand what they mean and why they are considered active role players in the creation of civil war. Civil War is conflict that arises when militant groups of people attack a government and or civilians persistently (Collier, 2003:54).What exactly is greed and how does it come into play in the occurrence of civil war? Greed according to the English dictionary (dictionary.com) is ‘excessive or rapacious desire especially for wealth or possessions. It is the need to acquire more than you need taking or having more of what you already have. So who is the greedy in civil war? Based on the definition, do the greedy exist in the sense of the word? If they do, then it is crucial to ‘investigate how the greed generates grievance and rebellion, legitimizing further greed (Keen,2000:32) as part of its role in the occurrence of civil war through, the actions of the greedy. Various economic and political factors contribute to the emergence and creation of civil war starting from inequality in terms of resource allocation to participation in the decision making process. There have been various arguments as to what really causes civil war; the prominent answer is economic inequality. The general idea is that people want more access to resources and because they cannot get it, they take it by force. In this sense, then yes the greedy exist and play a major role in the occurrence of civil war. On the other hand, those who do not have access to recourses at all and just want to enjoy the benefits and access to it in the first place (not more access) are not greedy but needy. The actual participants(people doing the actual fighting, and protesting) of civil war are not acting according to greed, for greed as earlier defined is wanting more of what you already have. They on the other hand just want access to resources denied of them, denoting previous lack. It is easy to link economic need and lack of resources to greed even more so as the focus is often on how the elite manipulate the situations to create civil unrest and strife, and how they and a few others benefit from it. The error is in considering these groups of people to be the only actors of civil war. The aim here is not to diminish the role of greed, for it plays just as important a role as grieve does as will be later discussed. The aim is to point out that it is important to consider those acting from greed and those from grieve, and the role of grievance in causing civil war before giving all the credit to greeds role as the dominant player in the creation of civil conflict. It is impossible for one factor (grieve or greed) to stir up conflict without the presence of the other factor. The greedy, often times are some entrepreneurs, rebel lords and their gangs, and a few elites (including some governments) that have something to gain from civil unrest are motivated by their greed, their desire to hoard more resources, their access to it, and the benefits gained from said resources (in form of employment, education, wealth etc). Their interest is vested in the continuation of war and so they manipulate the grieve that exists in the society which more often than not is a result of their greed. These are the few Collier talks about when he says, ‘civil war creates economic opportunities for a minority of actors even as they destroy it for the majority (Collier, 2000:91). This brings me to the point that the greedy are few but their impact and influence on the occurrence of civil war is big. Greed plays a minor yet visible role in civil war. The greedy few use the genuine grieve of the majority to advance their own economic agenda. According to Collier (2000), gr ieve is used to recruit actors in civil war. To understand the role of grieve; it is important to define it and consider what constitutes the sentiment. Grieve refers to pain over injustice or unfortunate circumstances as used in the English dictionary ‘grieve is to feel great sorrow, be mentally distressed or oppressed and wronged (Dictionary.com). This attribute is evident when considering factors that contribute to civil war. Looking at the case of Rwanda (Caplan, 2007) where the Tutsi had previously oppressed the Hutus during colonialism. The Hutu ethnic group embarked on an ethnic cleansing mission of the Tutsi ethnic group when they gained political power. This example illustrates how grieve came into play for Rwandas civil war. Ethnic differences, which resulted in oppression of one group by the other, created tension and grieve that erupted into violence. The role of Grieve and greed as creators of civil war is evident in that they are the foundations for each explanatory factor given for the occurrence of civil war. They are the driving forces behind factors contributing to civil war like ethnic differences, manipulative leaders and so forth. For each factor attributed to greed, there is grieve working with it making it possible for greed to be pursued, and for each grieve backed reason for civil war, greed is presently active. Both factors work together, greed creates grieve and it is also possible for greed to emerge from that grieve (Cramer, 2002) without one, the other really does not exist in civil war. Thus far, the contribution and role of greed and grieve as individual factors in the occurrence of civil war in a country has been show, now focus is directed to illustrate how their individual roles intertwine and work hand in hand. This aspect of the essay is going to examine the roles both grieve and greed play in different gr eed or grieve specific explanations offered for the cause of civil war. The most prominent explanation or contributing factor to civil war in literature and media seems to be economic agenda (Collier 2003) (greed explanation) and inequality (grieve explanation) between groups and people in the society as previously noted. The idea behind this is that people engage in conflict in order to advance their own economic agenda, be it access to previously denied resources or to gain more access to said resources. Collier (2000:93-95) uses a number of proxies to explain how greed motivates conflict. For instance, the availability of primary loot-able resources(also discussed in Collier, 2008) in a country creates an avenue for conflict to develop out of greed because of what is to be gained from looting (be it profit from actual sale of good or use of it). Another proxy used was the number of young men without job prospects whose income earning potentials and educational levels are low (Collier, 2000:95). According to this analogy jobless young men with no prospects living in a country with an abundance or somewhat large number of â€Å"primary resources† is a recipe for conflict in said society because of idleness and availability of loot-able resources and of course greed. These young jobless men without prospects do not have jobs or proper paying jobs because they have been denied access to proper and good or any form of education(also a factor that contributes to grieve). They may even have one but cannot get any or good employment because of inequality in the society. A country with large â€Å"commodity exports† obviously has the resources to make things better for these people or at least the means (sale of said commodity resources) to make things better. The availability of young men and primary export commodities shows how greeds role as a generator of civil war works. The explanation also illustrates how grieve (also an instigator of civil war) plays its role i n this dominantly greed backed explanation. Grieve experienced over the unfavorable conditions and employment status or lack thereof of these â€Å"young men† led them to resort to conflict to acquire some of the economic resources not made accessible to them. Colliers argument is that countries with â€Å"large primary resources† are prone to more civil war. The logic of his argument is that ‘resource-rich countries have a higher probability for conflict than resource-poor ones (Soya, 2000:120). Well certainly, there is some credit to this logic because resource poor countries have little or no resources. The difference between these two types of countries is that resource rich countries have resources. The scarcity of said resources within the country where the benefits of such resources are not visible or made equally available to its citizens are bound to experience rebellion from the majority of the population considering how only a minority benefits. The sense of injustice and feeling of unfairness likely to arise from the knowledge that certain resources are available but to only a few elite is enough to bring about grieve. This is also likely to motivate rebels and cause an uprising, and not only the idea that there is excess to acquire and more to be made from black market so let us loot and make our own profits like Collier and Soya would have us believe. The greed proxies (available young men, primary resource and education level) and explanations show greeds role at work, and shows that of grieve in civil war, illustrating how one cannot work without the other. The grievance factors of civil war and some of the grieve backed explanations for civil war like differences and animosity existing between groups in the society, and how they contribute to the emergence of civil war also illustrate the role of greed. The first of many is ‘raw ethnic or religious hatred (Collier, 2000:95). The logic behind this is that people are afraid of what they do not know or understand. Therefore, a society that is deeply separated based on different ethnicities and religious views will experience civil unrest at some point or the other because the society is invested in the differences that exist. Take for instance the Biafra war of Nigeria. The Biafra civil war broke out because of the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo) in the country, out of which the Igbo were not represented in government. They no longer were actively included in politics after years of being at the forefront of Nigerian politics, and running the country with the las t president (removed through a coup dà ©tat) being from the Igbo ethnic group (Ralph, 2004). Their lack of representation meant their access to certain resources were limited. The ethnic groups in power based on solidarity-favored members of their own ethnic group, their regions had better systems of education, and employment opportunity was regularly based on whom you knew and what ethnic group you belonged to. They only cared about and helped â€Å"their own people† while members of other ethnic groups were being slaughtered and maltreated. This goes to show how deeply rooted the society was in ethnic identities and differences. So much so, that the Igbo felt oppressed and resentment grew. The situation escalated because of problems surrounding the presence of crude oil in the region of the country occupied by the Igbo. The profits made from the resources found in their regions or â€Å"their lands† was not distributed equally around the regions of the nation and es pecially not in the regions, they were found in. In addition, the Igbo leaders decided to keep the profits to themselves to improve the standard of living of maltreated ethnic group members (Global Security.org). Out of grieve over the extent of inequality in the nation the Igbo felt the need to secede. The Nigeria Biafra war illustration of ethnic identities and differences creating civil strife supports the idea that ‘societies that are highly fractionalized by both ethnicity and religion (Collier, 2000:95) will have more incidence of civil war. Furthermore, the illustration not only shows grieve playing its role as a creator of civil war by supporting the grieve backed explanation for causes of civil, in this case ethnic differences and inequality, it also shows greeds role in the occurrence of the Nigerian Biafra civil war. The Igbo were oppressed, agreed but they did not threaten to secede up until they lost their position of power in government (an Igbo was in the presidential office) and found an excuse (Using the proceeds to help the oppressed) to keep the benefits and profits from the valuable natural resource found in the southeast region of Nigeria, where the Igbo reside to themselves. The presence of such a valuable resource like crude oil turned the Igbo greedy an d their state of oppression created an avenue for that greed to show. They wanted to keep the benefits from crude oil to themselves and break from the country. With the already existing situation of the ruling ethnic groups (Hausa and Yoruba), isolating resources based on ethnicity, and their greed in taking and keeping the benefits of the resources without any of it trickling down to the Igbo added to the existing rage and grieve over inequalities that abound in the society and oppression. More importantly, it legitimized the greed of the Igbo group; if it was all right for the ruling groups to hoard resources, it was all right for them to take their resource and keep it for themselves. The ruling groups out of greed kept resources for themselves, this resulted in the neglected groups (Igbo) grieve. Because of their greed, the ruling ethnic groups (Hausa and Yoruba) desired to keep the resource within their grasps and power so they can benefit more from it. This greed possibly led them to resist the secession of the Igbo group away from the nation. The Igbo on the other hand out of grieve over limited access to resources grew greedy and wanted to break from the country at the discovery of a valuable resource (crude oil) they wanted to keep to for themselves. This just goes to show how greed causes grieve and how both factors work together to manipulate situations in a way that results into violence. Another grieve backed factor for civil war that shows the role of both grieve and greed as creators of civil war is the idea of economic inequality again. This factor shows the perfect relationship between the roles of greed and grieve. The latter stemming from the unavailability of certain things like land for instance which Collier (2000) uses as proxy for inequality to others because the elite of the society have access to it. The greed of some in accumulation of resources for themselves and in the process causing grieve for those who do not have access to or are unable enjoy certain benefits derived from it. Ultimately greed from one side coupled with grieve from another equals civil war or at least leads to some form of conflict and even more so in a country with weak governance. A weak government implies ‘government economic incompetence (Collier, 2000:96) and an inability to control or prevent an outbreak of conflict in case one arises from said incompetence. Where there is an incompetent government, greed and grieve have an avenue to breed and reinforce each other in the creation of civil war. An incompetent government is to some extent responsible for economic inequality. The government is tasked with the duty of making resources available to its citizens equally or at the very least provides social safety nets when and where needed. If the government fails to provide these resources in an equal manner and create an equal atmosphere, inequalities are bound to be more apparent in the society and grieve from such inequalities as explained earlier may erupt into civil war. In addition, having a government that supports greed and is itself greedy and corrupt is another aspect in which a weak governance can and often adds to the incidence of civil war an d reinforce the role of greed and grieve as its creators. Through its greedy activities like accepting bribes from elites to maybe get more electricity in certain parts of the country or a government that fails to maintain public amenities such as the public school system because funds for such maintenance out of greed are diverted into their personal accounts creates grieve. Those that cannot afford private school for their kids or those that cannot afford to bribe them are ultimately denied the use of and access to basic resources. This type of behavior creates the foundation for inequality starting from basic education, which would later reflect in other areas of life like employment and income amongst other things. Government incompetence enhances the role of grieve and greed and creates a breeding ground for them to fester. A government with no desire to end conflict because of how they benefit from it be it through bribes from those that want to keep the situation the way it i s or based on their own interest legitimizes greed which goes on to create grieve which may or may not turn into greed and the cycle continues. Ultimately the role of greed and grieve in civil war is the creation of civil war. Factors that explain why civil wars occur are based on greed or grieve and are generally categorized as grieve based or greed based showing how important their role is in civil war. Without the presence of these factors (Greed and Grieve) civil war does not exist, it does not escalate and it does not continue. They are the fuel to the fire that is civil war. In conclusion, greed and grieve as creators of civil war reinforce each. One does not exist without the other and so to ignore the role of one in causing civil war is to leave the glass half-empty. To understand how various explanations of civil war factors work, it is important to recognize that both grieve and greed work together to effectively create the situation. For without greed, grieve cannot effectively play its role and create civil war, and neither can greed without grieve. Bibliography Amartya Sen. (2008). Violence, Identity, and Poverty. Journal of Peace Research. 45 (1), p Caplan, Gerald. (2007). Rwanda:Walking the Road to Genocide. In: Allan Thompson The media and the Rwanda genocide. London: Pluto Press. p20-40. Collier, Paul. (2008). The Conflict Trap. In: Collier The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. New York: Oxford University Press. p17-37. Collier, Hoeffler, and Sambanis. (2005). The Collier-Hoeffler Model of Civil War Onset and the Case Study Project Research Design. In: Paul Collier, and Nicholas Smbanis Understandying Civil War. 2nd ed. Washington DC: World Bank. p1-35. Collier, Paul. (2003). What makes a country Prone to Civil War. In: Paul Collier,World Bank Breaking the conflict trap: civil war and development policy. Washington, DC: Oxford university press and World Bank. p53-91. Collier, Paul. (2000). Doing Well out of War: An economic Perspective. In: Mats Berdal and David M. Malone Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars. London: Lynne Rienner. p91-112. Cramer, C. (2002). Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War. World Development. 30 (11), p1845-1860. David Keen. (2008). Greed: Economic Agendas. In: Keen Complex emergencies. Cambridge: Polity Press. p25-50. David Keen. (2008). Combatants and their Grievances. In: Keen Complex emergencies. Cambridge: Polity Press. p50-62. David Keen. (2000). Incentives and Disincentives for Violence. In: Mats Berdal and David M. Malone Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars. London: Lynne Rienner. p19-42. Global Security. (nd). Biafra War. Available: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/biafra.htm. Last accessed 5 January 2010. Indra de Soya. (2000). The Resource Curse: Are Civil Wars Driven by Rapacity or Paucity. In: Mats Berdal and David M. Malone Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars. London: Lynne Rienner. p113-136. Jacoby, Tim. (2008). Grievance. In: Jacoby Understanding Conflict and Violence: Theoretical and Interdisciplinary Approaches. London: Routledge. 103-123. Raph Uwechue. (2004). The Revolution of January 1966- Mismanaged and Misunderstood. In: Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War: Facing the Future. Victoria: Trafford. p23-33.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Media Influence On Public Policy Essay -- politics, government

Policymaking is a political process which is affected by various social and economic factors (Hofferbert, 1974) and media systems play an integral role in shaping the social context in which policies are developed. Through the media, citizens learn how government policies will affect them, and governments gain feedback on their policies and programs. Media systems act as the primary channels between those who might want to influence policy and the policymakers '' controlling the scope of political discourse and regulating the flow of information. Textbook policymaking follows an orderly sequence where problems are identified, solutions devised, policies adopted, implemented, and lastly evaluated (Mazamanian & Sabatier, 1989). In reality, the policy process is more fluid, where policies are formed through the struggle of ideas of various advocacy coalitions (Sabatier, 1991) in what has been described as a policy primeval soup (Kingdon, 1995). The policies, on which the media focuses can, and often does, play an important part in determining the focal issues for policymakers. One of the fundamental roles of the media in a liberal democracy is to critically scrutinise governmental affairs: that is to act as a watchdog of government to ensure that the government can be held accountable by the public. However, the systematic deregulation of media systems worldwide is diminishing the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in policymaking process governing the media (McChesney, 2003, p. 126). The relaxation of ownership rules and control, has resulted in a move away from diversity of production to a situation where media ownership is becoming increasing concentrated by just a few predominantly western global conglomerates (M... ... small media reforms (like public journalism) will be enough to reduce the commercial and corporate imperatives driving our existing media systems (Hackett and Zhao, 1998, p. 235). Instead, a fundamental reform of the entire system is needed, together with a wider institutional reform of the very structures the media systems work within, our democracies. This will be a difficult task, due to powerful vested interests benefiting from the status quo, including media, political and economic elites. Reforms will need to be driven by campaigns mobilising public support across the political spectrum, to enable the citizens of the world to have a media system that works to strengthen democratic principles as opposed to undermining them. This task is challenging, but it will become easier once people begin to understand the media’s role in policymaking within our democracies.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Drug and Alcohol Essay -- Drugs, North West of England

The purpose of this essay will be to discuss and focus on the relationship between drug, alcohol and health issues and reference made to the North West of England. Liverpool and the Wirral peninsular will be looked at with regard to the health and social repercussions and the implications drug and alcohol use has on the local communities. A broader look at the United Kingdom and the United States of America along with other parts of the world will also be used to provide a comparison. This essay will start by looking, briefly, at the history of drug and alcohol use and then move on to the problems caused by their use. The essay will then show how the environment and culture play a big part in the rise of illegal drug and alcohol use to date along with the connection with crime rates. The essay will move on to show how the region has come to address these issues and how collaboration between members of the community and public servants, police and local authorities, and National Healt h Services work together to provide positive outcomes. The essay will also show how members of the public form powerful groups that lobby governments and influence legislation. Due to recent legislation and proposed social care reforms, it will be necessary to look at how these could affect the current resources and how they could affect future needs. Where appropriate the essay will use interviews with members of the public, N.H.S staff and service users to provide depth and insight into aspects of the discussion. The assignment will end with a summing up and conclusion to the essay. The history of drug and alcohol use can be traced back many years, Hanson (1995) Informs us that the discovery of Stone Age beer jugs established that alcohol use e... ...ime rates and criminal activity does rise in these areas but there are lots of variables contributing to these factors. The essay looked at particular parts of the North West of the UK and it was seen that as a direct result of rising unemployment and local poverty the increase in drug and alcohol use escalated to epidemic proportions with social exclusion following. At that particular time drugs were readily available and authorities appeared powerless to stop it. The essay moved on to different accounts from other authors, some for the legalization of drugs others proposing more legislation. Generally speaking both sides gave valid arguments to the discussion. In answering the essay question it was felt by the student that drug and alcohol issues are capable of change, however, there are many contributing factors that need to be in place before this happens.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Physically Visiting the Markets and Use of Telephone/Mobile Phone

Marketing of Major Fish Species in Bangladesh: A Value Chain Analysis a power of fishries industry loaded with more documents Physically visiting the markets and use of telephone/mobile phone are the common sources of collecting market information for all value chain actors. Fellow traders are also a source of market information for the value chain actors except processing plants. Processing plant and LC paikers mainly depend on email/internet to obtain market informationMd. Ferdous Alam Research Fellow, Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia Md. Salauddin Palash Assistant Professor Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh Md. Idris Ali Mian Professor, Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh Madan Mohan DeyProfessor, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, USA November 2012 _____________________________________ A report submitted to Food and Agriculture Organization for the project entitled A Value-chain Analysis of International Fish Trade and Food Security with an Impact Assessment of the Small-scale Sector Marketing of Major Fish Species in Bangladesh: A Value Chain Analysis Table of Contents Section |Section title |Page | | |Glossary of terms |iv | | |Abbreviation |v | | |Weights, Measures and Conversions |v | | |Local and Scientific names of the species of fish considered |v | | |Acknowledgements |vi | | |Executive Summary |vii | | 1 |Introduction †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |1 | | 2 |Statement of the Problem †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |2 | | 3 |Methodology †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |3 | | 4 |Results and Discussion †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |5 | | 4. 1 |Overview of fish marketing practices †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ | 5 | | 4. 1 |Buying and selling †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |5 | | 4. 12 |Grading †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |10 | | 4. 13 |Storage †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |11 | | 4. 14 |Transportation †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |11 | | 4. 15 |Financing †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |13 | | 4. 6 |Market Information †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |15 | | 4. 17 |Packaging †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |16 | | 4. 18 |Pricing †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |17 | |4. 2 |Fish Marketing Channels †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |17 | |4. 3 |Characteristics of Market Participants †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |21 | |4. 4 |Value addition costs by different actors †¦ †¦ †¦ â € ¦ |23 | |4. | Marketing Margin †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |28 | |4. 6 |Distribution of Value Addition Cost and Net Profit †¦ †¦ †¦ |32 | |4. 7 |Intermediaries Share to Consumers’ Taka †¦ †¦ †¦ |33 | | 5 |Conclusion †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |34 | | |References †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |39 | List of Tables Table |Title of tables |Page | |1 |Distribution of samples from different areas †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |5 | |2 |Percent of tilapia fish transacted by value chain actors †¦ †¦ †¦ |6 | |3 |Percent of Rohu fish transacted by value chain actors †¦ †¦ †¦ |6 | |4 |Percent of Catla fish transacted by value chain actors †¦ †¦ †¦ |7 | |5 |Percent of Pangas fish transacted by value chain actors †¦ †¦ †¦ |8 | |6 |Perc ent of hilsha fish transacted by value chain actors †¦ †¦ †¦ |8 | |7 |Percent of shrimp transacted by value chain actors †¦ †¦ †¦ |9 | |8 |Sources of finance of major carps, pangas, and tilapia fish |14 | | |Farmers and intermediaries †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ | |9 |Sources of finance of hilsha fish Farmers and intermediaries †¦ †¦ |14 | |10 |Sources of finance of shrimp farmers and intermediaries †¦ †¦ †¦ |15 | |11 |Sources of market information for Farmers and intermediaries †¦ †¦ |15 | |12 |Pricing methods followed in selling fish in Bangladesh †¦ †¦ †¦ |17 | |13 |Total marketing cost of different intermediaries involved with major carps, pangs and tilapia marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |24 | |14 |Total marketing cost of different intermediaries involved with hilsha marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |25 | |15 |Total marketing cost of different intermediaries involved with shrimp marketing†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ | | | | |27 | |15 |Total marketing cost of different intermediaries involved with shrimp marketing (continued) | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |27 | |16 |Marketing margin of Aratdar involved with major carps, pangs and tilapia marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |29 | |17 |Marketing margin of Inter-district Paiker involved with Pangas fish marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |30 | |18 |Marketing margin of Paiker involved with major carps, pangas and Tilapia marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |30 | |19 |Marketing margin of Retailer involved with major carps, pangas and tilapia marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ 30 | |20 |Average net marketing margin of different intermediaries for major carps, pangas and tilapia fish | | | |m arketing in Bangladesh †¦ †¦ †¦ |31 | |21 |Average net marketing margins of different intermediaries involved with hilsha fish marketing | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |31 | |22 |Average net marketing margin of different intermediaries involved with shrimp marketing in Bangladesh | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |32 | |23 |Percentage distribution of value addition cost and profit by intermediaries and fish marketing system| | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |33 | |24 |Share of intermediaries to in consumer’s Taka according to distribution channel †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |34 | List of Figures Figure |Title of figures |Page | |1 |Mode of transport used by farmers and intermediaries for movement of major carps, pangs and tilapia | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |11 | |2 |Mode of transport used by farmers and intermed iaries for movement of Shrimp †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |12 | |3 |Mode of transport used by farmers and intermediaries for movement of Hilsha †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ | | | |†¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |13 | |4 |Value chains of major carps, pangs and tilapia | | | |in Bangladesh †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |18 | |5 |Value chains of hilsha in Bangladesh †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |19 | |6 |Value chains of shrimp in Bangladesh †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |20 | |7 |Components of costs for carps, pangs and tilapia †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |26 | |8 |Components of costs for Hilsha †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |26 | |9 |Components of costs for Shrimp †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |26 | List of Boxes Box |Title of Boxes |Page | |1 |Gradin g practices of different species of fishes †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |10 | |2 |Packaging practices of fish marketing in Bangladesh †¦ †¦ †¦ †¦ |16 | Glossary of Terms |Arat |Generally an office, a store, or a warehouse in a market place from which an Aratdar conducts his | | |business | |Aratdar |Main actor in the fish distribution system.An Aratdar arranges or negotiates sales for the sellers | | |on a commission basis. He often acts as a wholesaler. He is also a main provider of fisheries credit | | |to the fishers | |Paiker/Bepari |A Paiker is a middleman in the fish marketing chain; often covers the assembly function in the chain,| | |acting as Dadandar at the same time; depending on the location sometimes also referred to as | | |wholesaler or retailer. They are also called Bepari |Nikari |A Nikari is an informer middleman who does not have the ownership of fish but sets a bridge between | | |buyers and sellers and receive commission from Farme rs and fishers | |Faria |Farias are intermediaries usually operating in the hilsha marketing process who purchases small | | |quantity of fish from fishermen far away from the market and carry it to the terminal point and sell | | |it to Aratdar or retailer | |LC Paiker |These intermediaries purchase hilsha fish from fishermen through Aratdar and export to overseas | | |market. They are authorized LC (Letter of Credit) holder to export. | |Account Holder |They are intermediary and operate in the shrimp supply chain. They act as the commission agent and | | |constitute the major profit making actor in the shrimp value chain. Account Holders are very powerful| | |as they are the party who supply shrimp to the processing plants. Processing plants are made to buy | | |shrimp from the Account holders only. |Dadan |This is a kind of loan given to the fishermen by Aratdars and mohajans (traditional money lenders) | | |on condition that fish are required to be sold to them compulsorily. Som etimes prices are | | |predetermined | |Koyal |Koyals are persons who conduct the auction for the Aratdars. They organize the auction by offering | | |initial price of the lot to the assembled buyers. They then loudly inform the prices offered by the | | |buyers before the auction participants. The process is repeated by them until final price is fixed | | |up. | Abbreviations Acronym |Full title | |FAO |Food and Agricultural Organizations of the United Nations | |DoF |Department of Fishery | |ADB |Asian Development Bank | |FGD |Focused Group Discussions | |LC |Letter of Credit | |NGO |Non-government Organizations | |Tk |Taka, Bangladesh Currency | |USDA |United States Department of Agriculture | Weights, Measures and Conversions Exchange rates (Jan 2011) 1 US dollar ($) = Tk75. 00 1 Maund = 40 Kg Local and Scientific names of the species of fish considered Local name | Scientific name | |Rohu | Labeo rohita | |Catla | Catla catla | |Pangas | Pangasius hypophthalmus | |Tilapia | Ore ochromis nilotica | |Hilsha | Tenualosa ilisha | |Giant Tiger Shrimp | Penaeus monodon . | |Giant River Prawn | Macrobrachium rosenbergii | |Vennamei (whiteleg) shrimp | Litopenaeus vannamei | | | | AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD) for the technical implementation and funding respectively of the project entitled â€Å"A Value-chain Analysis of International Fish Trade and Food Security with an Impact Assessment of the Small-scale Sector†. We are also grateful to Dr. Audun Lem, Senior Fishery Industry Officer, Policy and Economics Division, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of FAO, Rome, for providing overall administrative support in conducting the project activities. The authors express sincere appreciation to Professor Dr.Trond Bjorndal, Director, CEMARE, the University of Portsmouth, UK for his keen interest in this value chain paper. His critical comments and professional suggestions have been highly helpful in organizing the paper. Prof. Dr. Daniel V Gordon of the University of Calgary, Canada deserves appreciation for his suggestions and comments during the value chain study workshop held in Japan, which helped the authors to organize the paper. The authors express sincere appreciation to the graduate students of the Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, for conducting the field surveys in various fish markets.The opinions of the participating members of the focused group discussion conducted in Khulna have been highly valuable and the authors thank them for their input. The different fish market intermediaries, who by sacrificing their valuable time, participated in the survey are also highly appreciated. Finally, the first author expresses deep sense of gratitude to the Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies and the Universiti Putra Mal aysia for approving him to be involved in this project. Executive Summary Background of the project Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is implementing a research project entitled a value-chain analysis of international fish trade and food security with an impact assessment of the small-scale sector with the financial support of NORAD.The objective of the project is to achieve a better understanding of the dynamics of relevant value-chains in international fish trade and arrive at policy recommendations. The project aims at analyzing the distribution of benefits in the value-chain and the linkages between the relative benefits obtained as well as the design of the chain. The project also aims at making comparisons between domestic, regional and international value-chains with the view to understand better how developing countries can increase the value derived from their fishery resources. Twelve countries (10 developing and 2 developed countries) are parti cipating in this project including Bangladesh. This report is based on the cross section component of the value chain analysis of Bangladesh fish marketing. Objectives of the studyThe study addresses the overall fish marketing system of Bangladesh with particular emphasis to the extent of value addition during the process of marketing of rohu, catla, pangas, tilapia, hilsha and shrimp. The specific objectives of the study are to: i) identify different marketing channels and intermediaries involved therein and their roles in fish marketing, ii) determine the extent of value addition in terms of costs in successive stages of fish movement, and iii) determine marketing margins of the intermediaries. A related, complementary study deals with price transmission mechanism across seafood value chain in the country (Sapkota-Bastola et al. 2012) Location of study and dataThe study is conducted in i) Trishal, Bhaluka and Muktagaca upazila (sub-district) under Mymensingh district of north-cent ral Bangladesh, ii) Dupchacia sub-district under Bogra district of northern Bangladesh, iii) Dumuria sub-district under Khulna district of southern Bangladesh, iv) Sadar sub-district of Chandpur district of south-central Bangladesh, and v) Jatrabari area of Dhaka district. A combination of participatory, qualitative and quantitative methods is used for primary data collection. Total sample size of the study is 200 comprising of 35 Farmers, 75 brokers and marketing agents, 5 depot owner, 2 processing plants and 73 retailers. Value chains (marketing channel) The longest supply chain involves six intermediaries for live Pangas (fish farmer, nikari, paiker, aratdar, retailer and consumer).Two supply chains identified for carps and tilapia involve five intermediaries (fish farmer, aratdar, paiker, retailer and consumer) and 4 intermediaries (fish farmer, aratdar, retailer and consumer) respectively. Supply chain of hilsha comprises of six intermediaries, namely fishermen, aratdar, paiker , aratdar, retailer and consumer for the distant domestic market. Two other identified channels for hilsha marketing involve respectively five intermediaries (fishermen, aratdar, paiker, retailer and consumer) and four intermediaries (fishermen, aratdar, retailer and consumer) for the local markets. The overseas hilsha marketing channel involves four intermediaries namely, fishermen, aratdar, LC paiker and overseas consumers.Domestic supply chains for shrimp marketing involve four intermediaries (shrimp farmer, aratdar, retailers and consumer) for local market and five intermediaries (shrimp farmers, aratdar, paiker, retailer and consumers) for distant markets. Three overseas supply chains are identified for shrimp marketing. The involved intermediaries are at most six, namely, shrimp farmer, aratdar, bepari, account holder, processing plant and overseas consumer. Characteristics of intermediaries Fish farmers and fishermen are the first link in the fish marketing channels. They are the supplier of fish to the market. Nikari (informer) is a middleman who does not have the ownership of the product but establishes a bridge between buyers and sellers and receive commission from farmer @0. 50 Taka/kg in the study areas in case of major carps.Faria, another type of intermediary, is found in hilsha marketing system who purchases a small quantity of fish form fishermen far away from the market and carry it to the terminal point and sell it to aratdar or retailer in the study areas. Paiker or bepari handles large volume of fish. They purchase fish from fish farmers at farm or through aratdar in the local market and sell them to the retailers through aratdar or commission agent in secondary market. LC paiker (licensed trader/exporter) purchase hilsha fish from fishermen through aratdar and sell (export) their entire product to overseas market. Aratdars negotiate sales of fish on behalf of the producers/ seller. Aratdars arrange selling of fish through an auctioning sys tem and receive a commission. Aratdars often act as a supplier of dadan.Shrimp depot owners are the permanent shopkeepers having their own premises and staffs in markets and act as the middle functionary between farmers and commission agents. Their shops (establishments) are called ‘Depot’. This group of traders mostly offers dadon – cash as loans to farmers, in return for buying the shrimp at a pre-fixed price, which may be well below the market level. Account holders act as the commission agent and constitute the major profit making actors in the shrimp value chain. They finance paikers and farmers and give credit to the processing plants. Retailers, the last intermediaries of fish marketing channel, do not have any permanent establishment but they have fixed places to sit in the market places or wandering with hari (aluminium pot) on head from door to door. Buying and sellingFarmers (producers) sell 5-12% of rohu, catla, and tilapia directly to paikers and 85- 95% is passed on to aratdar and subsequently purchased by paiker . Only a small portion is sold directly to retailers. For pangas, farmers sell 54% to paiker directly, 46% indirectly to paiker via aratdar and only 3% to retailers. Hilsha shows a different picture where fishers sell 16% to faria directly. Most intermediaries purchase fish from aratdars. In the study, 24% goes to faria, 16% to paikar, 12% to LC paiker and 32 % to retailers via aratdars. For shrimp, major portion (65%) is sold to bepari and paiker through aratdar. Depot owner is also an important party for the farmers to sell shrimp. Paikars and retailers transact (buy and sell) most of the traded fish through aratdars.Thus aratdar is the most important intermediary in the fish marketing chains and is only involved in negotiating sales on behalf of the sellers on a commission basis. In general, farmer/fisher, aratdar, paiker, and retailers are the important intermediaries playing notable role in the marketing of fish. Account holders are intermediaries and operate in the shrimp supply chain. They act as the commission agent and constitute the major profit making actor in the shrimp value chain. Account holders play a significant role in shrimp marketing. Marketing functions Grading Grading is an important activity in fish marketing as different sizes of fish fetch different prices.Grading facilitates buying and selling of fish. Most fish are graded on the basis of size (weight). However, in the case of hilsha, location (source of capture/catch) is also a factor in the grading procedure. Hilsha harvested from river (river Padma) and from sea (called fishes from Nama’s) are often differentiated in terms of their prices. Usually, hilsha caught from Padma river fetch higher price. Fish are graded into three categories namely, small, medium and large depending on size (weight). However, weights across species vary depending on species graded. Shrimp has a different grading system than fish. Her e grading is based on number of pieces forming one kg. StoragingThe storage function is primarily concerned with making goods available at the desired time. It enables traders to obtain better prices for their products. Being a highly perishable commodity, fish requires extremely specialized storage facilities matching the seasonal demand. In the shrimp industry, only the processing plants use proper storage systems in order to be able to export to the world market. Other intermediaries use only ice to transport fishes from one place to another. Surprisingly, no refrigerated van is used in Bangladesh to transport fish. Live pangas is transported from one place to another place using water in the plastic drums. TransportingFish farmers and intermediaries use various modes of transportation such as van, rickshaw, truck, passenger bus, pickup, Nasimon (locally made pick-up type van for transporting passengers and goods), head load etc, to transfer products from the producing areas to t he consumption centres. Ice is used while transporting the fish as most carriers are non-refrigerated. Rohu, catla, hilsha and other assorted fish often are sold in the urban areas with refrigerated vans to a very limited scale by the DoF, BFDC and some private firms. Financing Most of the fish farmers/ fishermen, aratdars, paikers and are self-financed. Other sources of finance for the farmers are banks, friends and relatives, and dadon. Aratdars and paikars also borrow from banks, NGOs, and friends and relatives.However, finance of hilsha fishermen come totally from aratdar/mahajon (who provides dadan). Fishermen receiving dadon from aratdars/mohajans are bound to sell their produce to them, sometimes at predetermined prices, which in most cases are lower than prevailing market prices. Farmer, aratdar, bepari and retailer involved in shrimp transaction are self-financed. Depot owners use a combination of own fund, bank, NGO and aratdars for shrimp financing. Paikers use dadon from aratdars besides their own fund to run their business. Account holders partly and processing plant owners mostly depend on bank loans to accelerate the business operations. Market informationPhysically visiting the markets and use of telephone/mobile phone are the common sources of collecting market information for all value chain actors. Fellow traders are also a source of market information for the value chain actors except processing plants. Processing plant and LC paikers mainly depend on email/internet to obtain market information. Packaging ‘Bamboo, tied with rope and polythene is used by farmers, paikers and retailers of major carps, pangas and tilapia fish for packaging. Agents also use plastic drum to transport fish (mostly pangas) in live form. Now a day’s ‘plastic crate’ is commonly used by all types of intermediaries in Bangladesh. Steel and wooden’ box are used in hilsha fish marketing by paikers, beparis and LC paikers. ‘Box†™ made of cork sheet is widely used by Account holders and processing plant owners in shrimp marketing and LC paikers in hilsha fish marketing. Pricing Depot owner, bepari and account holder of shrimp marketing chain follow prefixed prices set by the processing plants. Farmer, aratdar, paiker, LC paiker, and processing plants practice open bargaining, auction and going market prices method for fixing price of their products in varying degree. Retailers follow open bargain for selling their fish to consumers. Value addition Value is added when products pass different stages and move from one intermediary to another.The different cost components required for successive movement of fish are transportation, basket packaging, icing, wages and salaries, aratdar’s commission, house rent, security, electricity, telephone, personal expenses, tips-donation, wastage, dadon cost, government taxation, subscription for cooperatives (for hilsha), export packaging (shrimp). Total value add ed cost per maund (40 kg) is Taka 953. 13 for carps, pangas and tilapia; Taka 3707 for hilsha and Taka 5036 for shrimp. For carps, pangas and tilapia. The top three cost components are transportation, aratdar’s commission, and icing. For hilsha, the cost items are aratdar’s commission, transportation, and basket (packaging). For shrimp, the top three cost additions are aratdar’s commission, transportation, and salaries for shrimp. Marketing marginNet marketing margins per maund of carp, pangas and tilapia for farmers, aratdars, inter-district paikers, paikers and retailers are Tk3257, Taka 54, Taka 194, Taka 337 and Taka 633 respectively. The net margins of hilsha are Taka 297 for aratdars, Taka 228 for inter-district paikers, Taka 902 for LC paiker, Taka 520 for paiker and Taka 1223 for retailers. Farmer’s net marketing margin per maund of shrimp is Taka 20366 followed by processing plant (Taka 1650), retailer (Taka 1524), paiker (Taka 1417), depot owner s (Taka 1006), bepari (Taka 720) and aratdar (Taka 201). Retailers enjoy the lion’s share of the total marketing margin. Distribution of value addition cost and profit For major carp, pangas and tilapia, major cost and profit are borne by paikers (32. 03 % of the total cost) and retailers (51. 8 % of the total net profit) . For hilsha and shrimp marketing, major costs are incurred by inter district beparis, LC paikers, paikers and fishermen but major net profits are reaped by retailers and processing plant owners . Farmers in shrimp marketing bear the major marketing cost (23. 70 % of total cost) because they have to pay the aratdar’s commission. Farmers’ share of consumer Taka Farmers’ share of the consumers prices for different fishes seem to be reasonable except for hilsha fish. Farmer received 67%, 72% and 76% share of the consumer’s Taka for major carp-pangas-tilapia, shrimp (overseas value chain) and shrimp(domestic value chain) respectively. However, for hilsha, the major share (46%) of consumer Taka goes to mahajon, and fishermen receive only 31%. Price spread per kg ranges from Taka 39. 83 to Taka 177. 50. Conclusions and recommendations The study reveals that the value chain of major carps, pangas, tilapia, hilsha and shrimp are long and very complex. Fish flows to a number of channels from the producing centers. Fish sold in a particular market may originate through more than one channel. There are involvements of many intermediaries in the channel. Involvement of some intermediaries seems to be redundant whose presence just adds a cost to the consumer and a loss to the fisher.Fish purchased by consumers in Bangladesh mostly consists of the primary product and does include limited marketing services. Non-existence of good road and transport networks with the landing (assembling) centers deprive small-scale artisanal riverine fishers to get fair price due to their inability to sell directly to the assembling points/l anding centers Contact fish farming arranged by some super stores tend to reduce the existence of number of intermediaries making the channel shorter. Bulk of the fish sold in the markets is unprocessed. An emerging new phenomenon in fish marketing in Bangladesh is the availability of fish in super markets, who are increasingly becoming important retailers.Beparies and paikers bear the most cost of marketing while retailers enjoy the lion’s share of the profit. Farmers receive relatively higher share (approximately 70%) of the retail value for all species under study except for hilsha. Though fish marketing in Bangladesh is beset with a number of problems, there have been a number of positive changes that are expected to improve fish marketing environment in the country. These positive drivers include, i) the shift from subsistence to commercial fish farming, ii) emergence of super-markets, and iii) a changing social attitude towards fish marketing, as it is increasingly cons idered as a less dishonourable job as was thought in the past.Although private bodies control the most of fish marketing, for better fish marketing, government should also play active role in providing physical facilities like refrigerated storage, refrigerated vans, good market places with related facilities like water, ice, electricity, drainage facilities and sitting arrangements etc. Development of road networks is greatly needed, which is a responsibility of the government. Monitoring needs to be done to ensure that market regulations are be strictly followed. 1. Introduction Large number of different types of water bodies both inland and marine makes Bangladesh one of the most suitable countries of the world for freshwater aquaculture. The freshwater inland aquaculture production in Bangladesh is the second highest in the world after China (FAO, 2009).The total annual fish production is estimated at 2. 90 million tonnes in 2009-10 (Bangladesh fiscal year: 1 July-30 June), of w hich 1. 35 million tonnes (46. 62%) are obtained from inland aquaculture, 1. 02 million tonnes (35. 53%) from inland capture fisheries, and 0. 52 million tonnes (17. 85%) from marine fisheries (DoF, 2010). The main production systems for freshwater aquaculture in Bangladesh are extensive and semi-intensive pond poly-culture of Indian major carps and exotic carps, which account for 80% of the total freshwater aquaculture production. The remaining 20% are mainly from catfish, tilapia, small indigenous fish and rice-fish farming (ADB, 2005). Presently, 1. million people are engaged full time and 12 million as part time in fisheries sector in the country for livelihood and trade. Another 3. 08 million fish and shrimp farmers are cultivating fish both at subsistence and commercial level (Shah and Ahmed, 2006). In Bangladesh, fish farming is currently one of the most important sectors of the national economy. Within the overall agro-based economy of the country, the contribution of fish p roduction has been considered to hold good promise for creating jobs, earning foreign currency and supplying protein. About 97% of the inland fish production is marketed internally for domestic consumption while the remaining 3% is exported (Hasan, 2001).A large number of people, many of whom living below the poverty line, find employment in the domestic fish marketing chain in the form of farmers, processors, traders, intermediaries, day laborers and transporters (Ahmed et al. 1993, Islam, 1996; DFID, 1997; Kleih, 2001a? 2001b). Traditionally, people of Bangladesh like to eat fresh fish. However, chilled and dried fish are also marketed currently in large quantities in the towns and cities. Utilization and marketing distribution of fish is around 70 % fresh fish, 25% dried, and the other forms of locally processed fish include fermented products and frozen products (Islam et al. 2006). The export market of value added products is highly competitive, involving changes in type of pro ducts, forms and packaging as well as consumer behavior.Export of fish, shrimp and other fishery products were considered as non-conventional items before the independence of the country. It has increased many-folds during the last decades and the country is earning foreign exchange to minimize the trade gap. In this case the dried coastal and marine fish, the marine finfish and organism even other than fish, could be on the top of the list of export earning items (Kamal, 1994). Bangladesh exported fish and fisheries products worth Taka 32,106 million in 2009-10 of which frozen fish and shrimp shared more than 90% of the total exports of the fishery products and attained 3. 7% of total export earnings of Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bank, 2011).Since fish production in Bangladesh is increasing over the years, its disposal pattern is very important as growers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers- all are affected due to value addition in the marketing process. For the sustainability of th ese stakeholders, fish marketing studies are very necessary. Thus, the present study is conducted to examine the fish marketing system, supply chain and value addition to determine the pulling factors for enhancing production, processing and marketing of different species of fishes in Bangladesh. 2. Statement of the Problem The value chain describes the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the different phases of production and delivery to final consumers (Porter, 1980; Kapilinsky and Morris, 2000).Value-chain analysis looks at every step a business goes through, from raw materials to the eventual end-user. The goal is to deliver maximum value for the least possible total cost (Investopedia, 2011). Market chain analysis aims to provide information on profitability for the various agents along the market chain (Ferris et al. , 2001). Economic value chain analysis describes the range of activities required to bring a produc t to the final consumer and, in the case of international products, the extent to which intermediaries/agents gain from participating in the chain (Jacinto, 2004). A traditional food industry value chain consists of the producer, processor, wholesaler, exporter, importer, retailer and consumer.There are mainly three sets of reasons why value chain analysis is important (Kaplinsky and Morris, 2000). These are: i) with the growing division of labour and the global dispersion of the production of components, systematic competitiveness has become increasingly important, ii) efficiency in production is only a necessary condition for successfully penetrating global markets, and iii) entry into global markets which allows for sustained income growth – that is, making the best of globalilsation- requires an understanding of dynamic factors within the whole value chain. Fish is a highly perishable commodity and its quality deteriorates very rapidly.Therefore, its quality cannot be kep t unaffected for human consumption for a long time. Production and consumption areas are also widely separated. Consumers of this country normally like indigenous carps, shrimp, catfish and other small species as food fish. Production of cultured fish can be increased by making best utilization of the existing inland resources through modern and scientific methods of fish culture and fishing techniques. But the ultimate consumers have to depend on an effective marketing system to be able to purchase fish at reasonable prices. Similarly, successful and sustainable fish culture also depends on an effective distribution system.Analysis of value chains requires detailed micro-level data, which are not available in Bangladesh and are often difficult to obtain in most countries. The present study takes the first steps to collect primary data and to identify the marketing channels and value addition of tilapia, pangas, rohu, catla, shrimp and hilsha in Bangladesh. This study analyzes how m arket intermediaries operate along seafood value chains, and demonstrates how the revenue from seafood trade is distributed over the entire seafood value chain. This report also provides information on aquaculture/fisheries products in Bangladesh to support the statistical report linking the value chain in fish supply.Finally, this study is expected to also provide some useful information to traders, fish farmers and policy makers to help them formulate programmes and policies related to the concerned fish production and marketing. A related, complementary study (Sapkota-Bastola et al. 2012) provides an in-depth analysis of the linkage between various segments in the seafood value chains in the country. The report is organized in 5 sections. Following introduction in the first section and problem statement in the second section, the third section presents methodology followed in the study. Results and discussions are discussed in section 4. Concluding remarks and future fisheries va lue chains are provided in section 5. 3. MethodologyThe study was conducted in i) Trishal, Bhaluka and Muktagaca sub-districts under Mymensingh district of north-central Bangladesh, ii) Dupchacia sub-district under Bogra district of northern Bangladesh, iii) Dumuria sub-district under Khulna district of southern Bangladesh, iv) Sadar sub-districts of Chandpur district of south-central Bangladesh and v) Jatrabari area of Dhaka district. These areas have been identified as the most important sources for pangas (Pangasius hypophthalmus), rohu (Labeo rohita), catla (Catla Catla), tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica), hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha) and shrimp/prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Penaeus monodon, and Litopenaeus vannamei). Primary data were collected from fish market agents of Trishal, Valuka, Muktagaca and Mechua Bazar of Mymensingh district, Dupchacia and Fate Ali Bazar of Bogra district, Kharnia, Dumuria, Rupsha, 5-No. hat and Moylapota Bazar of Khulna district, Station, Pal Bazar a nd Biponibag of Chandpur district and Jatrabari, Shanir Akhra, Ajompur and Abdullahpur Bazar of Dhaka district for the study. Surveys were conducted for a period of three months from November 2010 to January 2011. These surveys involved the inspection of the study areas in terms of fish distribution and marketing systems. A combination of participatory, qualitative and quantitative methods was used for primary data collection. A total of 4 Focus Group Discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted with actors involved in fish distribution channel (1 FGD in each area). Table 1 shows the sample intermediaries from different study areas. In this study, purposive sampling technique was used for selecting the sample. Total sample size of the study was 200.The interview schedules were prepared according to the need of the objectives of the study. In order to collect data, one set of interview schedule for all actors involved in value addition process was prepared. The draft interview schedule w as pre-tested amongst a few respondents by the researcher themselves. In this pre-testing much attention was given to elicit new information which was originally not designed to be asked and filled in the draft interview schedules. Thus, some parts of draft schedules were improved, rearranged and modified in the light of the actual experiences gained from the field tests. Then the final interview schedules were prepared based on the result of the pre-test.After the collection of data they were scrutinized and carefully edited to eliminate possible errors and inconsistencies contained in the schedules while recording them. The first step was to look into the data of each and every interview schedule to ensure consistency and reliability with the aims and objectives of the study. After completing the pre-tabulation task, they were transferred to an Excel sheet from the interview schedules. In this study tabular technique was followed to illustrate the whole scenarios of fish marketing . The sum, mean, averages, percentages, gross costs and margins etc. are the simple statistical measures employed to examine the value chain analysis of different species of fishes. Table 1. Distribution of samples from different areas |Study Area and fish species | | | | | | | |Respondents | | | |Mymensingh |Bogra |Dhaka |Chandpur |Khulna | | | |Pangas/ |Pangas/ |Pangas/ |Hilsha |Hilsha |Shrimp |Total | | |tilapia/ rohu/ catla|tilapia/ rohu/|tilapia/ rohu/ | | | | | | | | |catla/ hilsha | | | | | | | |catla | | | | | | |Farmer |10 |5 | |5 |5 |10 |35 | |Paiker |15 |4 |3 | |10 |3 |35 | |Total |56 |29 |25 |20 |29 |41 |200 | 4.Results and Discussion 4. 1 Overview of fish marketing practices 4. 11 Buying and selling Fish marketing practices in Bangladesh is the combination of a series of functions or services that are performed by several institutions and market participants like marketing agents, brokers, wholesalers, retailer, exporter and manufacturer in order to transfer the product s from farm-gate to the ultimate consumers both at home and abroad. Marketing system may be thought of as the connecting link between specialized producers and consumers (Kohls, 2005). An efficient marketing system is essential for earning fair profit for the fish farmers and traders.Marketing functions may be defined as major specialized activities performed in accomplishing the marketing process of concentration, equalization and dispersion (Kohls, 2005). In the study areas, the whole marketing of fish has been broken down into various functions such as buying and selling, transportation, grading, storaging, weighing, financing, market information and pricing. The activities involved in the transfer of goods are completed through buying and selling functions. Aratdars do the functions of negotiation between buyers and sellers of fish and help them at their own business premises on receipt of commission. They do not take the ownership of the products.Tilapia fish farmers sell 85% o f their fish to paiker through aratdar, 12% to paiker directly and the final 3% to retailer. Paikers sell 77% of their fishes to retailers and 23% to retailers through aratdars. Retailers sell the entire fish to ultimate consumers. Paiker of tilapia fish purchases 92% from farmers through aratdar and 8% directly from farmers. Retailer purchases 89 % from farmers through aratdar and 11% from farmers. Consumer purchases 100% of tilapia from the retailers in the study area (Table 2). Table 2. Percent of tilapia fish transacted by value chain actors | |Purchase from (%) |Sold to (%) | |Value chain actor| | | |Farmer | |Paiker |8 |92 | | |Farmer | |Paiker |8 |92 | |Value chain actor|Farmer | |Paiker |11 |89 | | |Farmer | |Paiker |50 |50 | | |Fisher men | |Faria |100 |- |- |- |- | |Retailer |- | | |Farmer |Faria |Farmer via Aratdar|Bepari |Depot owner |AC Holder |Retailer | |Faria |100 |- |- |- |- |- |- | |Depot owner |40 |20 |40 |- |- |- |- | |Paiker |- |- |100 |- |- |- |- | |Bepari |- | - |100 |- |- |- |- | |A/C Holder |30 |- |- |50 |20 |- |- | |Processing plant |- |- |- |- |- |- |- | |Retailer |- |- |20 |80 |- |- |- | |Consumer |- |- |- |- |- |- |100 | Source: Field survey, 2010. Table 7. Percent of shrimp/prawn transacted by value chain actors (Cont†¦. | |Sold to (%) | |Value chain |Faria |Retailer via Aratdar | |actor | | | |Rohu |Weight |Large: 2. 5 kg above, Medium: 1. 0 kg to 2. 5 kg, Small: Less than 1 kg | |Catla |Weight |Large: 3. 0 kg above, Medium: 1. 5 kg to 3 kg, Small: Less than 1. 5 kg | |Tilapia |Weight |Large: 300 gm above, Medium: 150 gm to 300 gm, Small: Less than 150 gm | |Pangas |Weight |Large: 1. 5 kg above, Medium: 1 kg to 1. kg, Small: Less than 1 kg | |Shrimp |Weight |Golda: U-5, 6/8, 8/12, 13/15, 16/20, 21/25, 26/30 | | | |Bagda: 8/12, 13/15, 16/20, 21/25, 26/30, 31/40, 41/50 | |Hilsha |Weight |Large: Above 1 kg, Medium: 800gm to 1000 gm, Small: Less than 800 gm | | |Location |Catching from river, Catching from sea | Source: Field sur vey, 2010. 4. 13 Storage The storage facilities help buyers and sellers to reduce the wide fluctuation of prices between peak and lean seasons. The storage function is primarily concerned with making goods available at the desired time and enables traders to receive better prices for their products. Because of high perishability, fish requires extremely specialized storage facilities matching the seasonal demand.Only the processing plants in the shrimp industry use proper storage systems for export to the world market. Other intermediaries use only ice to transport fishes from one place to another. Surprisingly, no refrigerated vans are used in Bangladesh to transport fish. Live pangas is transported from one place to another using water in the plastic drums. If the distance is long, water is then changed twice or thrice depending on the distance. Though all intermediaries use ice during marketing, their use of ice in fish is not scientific for which quality of fish gets affected. W hile retail selling, some use ice and some do not. 4. 14 TransportationTransportation is a basic function of making goods available at proper place and it creates place utility. Perishable goods must be moved as early as possible from the producing centre Figure 1. Mode of transport used by farmers and intermediaries for movement of major carps, pangas and tilapia Source: Field survey, 2010. Figure 2. Mode of transport used by farmers and intermediaries for movement of shrimp Source: Field survey, 2010. to the consumer centre. So transportation is essential for highly perishable commodities like fish. Adequate and efficient transportation is a cornerstone for the modern marketing system (Kohls and Uhl, 2005, p. 319).In the study areas, the fish farmers and intermediaries use various modes of transports such as van, rickshaw, truck, passenger bus, pickup, Nasimon (locally made pick-up type van for transporting passengers and goods), head load etc, to transfer product from the produci ng areas to the consumption centre. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show different modes of transport used by the intermediaries to transport fish from one place to another. 4. 15 Financing The financing function is the advancing of money by someone to carry on the business. For effective operation, financing is of crucial importance in the whole marketing system of fish. The source of finance for the value chain actors in the study areas are shown in Tables 8, 9 and 10.Table 8 shows that most of the fish farmers, aratdars, paikers and retailers of major carps, pangas and tilapia are self-financed. Other sources of finance for farmers are banks, friends and relatives, and dadon. A minor portion of Aratdar’s sources of finance are banks and friends and relatives. Paikers take loan from banks, NGO and friends and relatives. In addition to the use of their own fund, retailers also borrow from NGOs and friends and relatives. Figure 3. Mode of transport used by the farmers and intermediaries f or movement of hilsha fish Source: Field survey, 2010. Table 8. Sources of finance of major carps, pangas and tilapia fish farmers and intermediaries Sources of finance |Market participants (%) | | | |Farmer |Aratdar |Paiker |Retailer | |Own fund |86 |96 |82 |76 | |Bank |9 |3 |11 |0 | |NGO |- |0 |5 |16 | |Friend and relatives |4 |1 |2 |8 | |Dadon from Aratdar |1 |0 |0 |0 | |Total |100 |100 |100 |100 | Source: Field survey, 2010.Table 9 shows that most of the fish aratdar, bepari, paiker and retailer of hilsha are self-financed. Other sources of their finance are banks, NGOs, friends and relatives and dadon. It is worth mentioning that finance of hilsha fishermen come totally from aratdar/mahajon (who provides dadan). This dadon of the aratdars /mohajans makes fishermen very vulnerable as it is tied up with conditions. Fishermen receiving dadon from aratdars/mohajans are bound to sell their produce to them, sometimes at predetermined prices which in most cases are lower than the prev ailing market prices. Moreover, they also deprive the fishers while weighing the produce. About one-fourth of the LC paikers business is run by bank loans. Table 9.Sources of finance of hilsha fish farmers and intermediaries |Sources of finance |Market participants (%) | | |Fishermen |Aratdar |Bepari |Paiker |LC Paiker |Retailer | |Own fund |3 |90 |95 |80 |74 |99 | |Bank |0 |9 |5 |10 |24 |0 | |NGO |0 |0 | |0 |2 |1 | |Friend and relatives |0 |1 | |0 | | | |Dadon from Aratdar |97 | | |10 | | | |Total |100 |100 | | |100 |100 | Source: Field survey, 2010. Table 10 shows that in the case of shrimp, most of the farmers, aratdar, bepari and retailers are self-financed. Depot owners use a combination of own funds, bank loans, NGO and aratdars for shrimp marketing. Only 20% of depot owners procure loans from banks while 5% and 3% received from NGOs and dadon giving aratdars respectively. However, a majority of depot owners use their own fund for the business. 34% of the paikers take dadon Ta ble 10.Sources of finance of shrimp farmers and intermediaries |Sources of finance |Market participants (%) | | |Farmer | | |Farmer |Depot owner |Aratdar | |Basket |Bamboo, Rope and Polythene |40 kg |Farmer, Paiker and Retailer | | | |20 kg |Retailer | |Drum |Plastic |40 kg |Farmer, Paiker | | | |20 kg |Retailer | |Crate |Plastic, Polythene |40 kg |Depot owner (shrimp), Paiker, Bepari, Account holder | | | | |(Shrimp), Retailer | |Steel box |Steel sheet |250 kg |Paiker, Bepari (hilsha) | |Wooden box |Wood, Polythene |160 kg |Bepari, Paiker, LC paiker (hilsa) | |Box |Cork sheet |40 and 20 kg |LC Paiker (hilsha), Account holder, Processing p