Saturday, December 28, 2019

The Metamorphosis Essay - 1716 Words

The Metamorphosis The longer story The Metamorphosis, first published in 1971, was written by Franz Kafka. He was born in Prague in 1883 and lived until 1924, and he has written many other stories along with The Metamorphosis. The Metamorphosis appears to be a fantastic piece. After reading The Metamorphosis, I do believe that there are many similarities between magical realism and fantastic literature. Kafka showed many fantastic issues in The Metamorphosis. While reading The Metamorphosis, I did not feel that it had any magical elements in the story, but had many fantastic elements. In my opinion, I think that the story did have some realist elements. For example, there was a lot of tension with the family. Although it had to do†¦show more content†¦But what is particularly found problematic is the apparent contradiction in the definition of magical realism as an amalgamation of realism and fantasy such as The Metamorphosis (129). Many things are fantasy, but now since I have learned what magical realism is, I see magical realism in The Metamorphosis. I feel that waking up and being something else is magical and a person hearing his family talking and being scared to leave his room is magical. Also, he had to learn how to walk differently, lie differently, and even eat differently. I feel that part is more magical than fantastic. The Metamorphosis did have some realist elements as well. Before Gregor Samsa turned into an insect, he was a young traveling salesman who lived with and financially supported his parents and his young sister. Another realist element I found was that it is true that insects do not like the same food we eat. Gregors food habits changed. Even though he was an insect, his sister still found the time to feed him, and when she fed him, she gave him bread and milk because that was his favorite. When Gregor went to eat it as an insect, he no longer liked the taste. He began eating scraps. He also liked staying under the furniture. All insects like to hide, and even though he went from a human to a bug, he is doing the things that an insect would naturallyShow MoreRelatedMetamorphosis In Metamorphosis847 Words   |  4 PagesMetamorphosis is often described as a change of the form or nature of a thing or a person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means. Gregor Sams a led an ordinary and rather mundane life as a traveling salesman who spent the majority of his time on the road with little time to form friendships or relationship with anyone outside of his small family. Once filled with gratitude by providing for his family, he is soon filled with resentment and obligation as his family adjustsRead MoreMetamorphosis By Franz Kafka s Metamorphosis1496 Words   |  6 PagesIn Franz Kafka s Metamorphosis, Grete changes from a child into an adult while also trying to do the opposite with her own family. Gregor’s metamorphosis leaves her family without anybody money to pay for their needs. Consequently, Grete replaces Gregor and begins to cook and clean for her family and go to work. These jobs allow Grete to become more experienced and to mature. Similarly, Grete shows displays these changes by dressing more provocatively and becoming more interested in romance. HoweverRead More Essay on Metamorphosis of the Family in Kafkas Metamorphosis186 8 Words   |  8 PagesMetamorphosis of the Family in Kafkas Metamorphosis      Ã‚   In Franz Kafkas Metamorphosis, the nature of Gregor Samsas reality changes insignificantly in spite of his drastic physical changes. Gregors life before the metamorphosis was limited to working and caring for his family. As a traveling salesman, Gregor worked long, hard hours that left little time to experience life. He reflects on his life acknowledging the plague of traveling: the anxieties of changing trains, the irregular,Read MoreThe Metamorphosis Franz Kafka s Metamorphosis1663 Words   |  7 PagesIn The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka tells the story of a young man named Gregor who observes the radical changes in his life after transforming into an insect. Gregor’s life was centered on his job as a traveling salesperson and his family. One morning Gregor woke up transformed into an insect. Afraid of the transformation Gregor stays in his room and ignores calls from his family. When Gregor realized that his new body did not allow him to have a normal life, he tried to adapt. After his metamorphosisRead MoreAnalysis Of The Metamorphosis1501 Words   |  7 PagesBeveridge, A. (2009). Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Advances in psychiatric treatment, 15(6), 459-461. This brief article is written from the psychiatric perspective, pointing out that Kafka has always been of great interest to the psychoanalytic community; this is because his writings have so skillfully depicted alienation, unresolved oedipal issues, and the schizoid personality disorder and The Metamorphosis is no exception to this rule. While this writer tends to think that psychiatrists shouldRead MoreThe True Metamorphosis1356 Words   |  6 PagesThe True Metamorphosis The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka offers much to be critiqued, including the reason why Gregor Samsa was transformed into a hideous beetle. The truth is Gregor had put himself into a position of demise long ago. Over the years, he had worked himself into both physical and mental exhaustion. Gregor was the sole provider, and eventually his family grew less appreciative of him. His relationship with his family had gone south. They were no longer as close, and it were asRead MoreEssay on Metamorphosis1359 Words   |  6 PagesMetamorphosis In the short story, Metamorphosis, the narrator describes Gregor’s new life as an insect. He then goes on to describe Gregor’s sister, Grete, with a reflection of Gregor’s opinion in the description. Kafka employs a number of stylistic devices including descriptive imagery, metaphors, and symbolism in the passage to describe the situation. While these devices on their own just provide a more complex method of painting the situation, the way they are assembled in the passage Read MoreMetamorphosis And The Stranger1288 Words   |  6 PagesThis theory appears throughout literature and offers a grim perspective on human existence. The Metamorphosis, written by Kafka in 1915, follows a traveling salesman who struggles with his purpose in life. Similar to that story, Camus’s The Stranger, published in 1942, details the unnecessary undoing of an Algerian man who follows his own morals, not society’s morals. Within Kafka s The Metamorphosis and Camus s The Stranger, the characters isolation in society, illogical thoughts without realRead MoreThe Trial And The Metamorphosis2538 Words   |  11 Pagesand The Metamorphosis are the two foremost works Franz Kafka has ever written. By doing this, Franz makes the similarities and differences very obvious, yet each text is complex in their own way. In The Trial and The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses unique aspects to compare the characters i n each novel. Each character is being forced by anonymous forces. They both go through loneliness to find the meaning behind their suffering. Each similarity and difference in The Trial and The Metamorphosis, come alongRead MoreMetamorphosis Analysis1503 Words   |  7 Pagesmost wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.† 20th century novelist, Franz Kafka would agree with such a statement as he strongly despised capitalism and its faults. In his celebrated short story, Metamorphosis, Kafka explores the cruelty and exploitations of capitalism through the eyes of Gregor Samsa. ironically, he also represents capitalism to further illustrate its barbarity. Kafka’s use of irony is significant for it leaves the readers confused

Friday, December 20, 2019

Technology Can We Live Without It - 1602 Words

â€Å"You’ve got mail!â€Å" Or nowadays people have the latest hit song as their messaging tone. Technology has come a long way over the past twenty years. The Internet and technology have advanced tremendously and with cell phones turning into â€Å"smartphones.† It seems people today just have it made with the world at their fingertips. The question arises: are people really using technology and the new advances that come along almost everyday the right way? Also, what kind of impact does technology had on human nature? Is it for the better or can it lead to crippling social isolation? Technology does not help human character. It separates people from nature and from themselves. Technology seems to take away people’s emotions. As human beings we†¦show more content†¦Communication does feel easier this way but it has made life more impersonal. It is as if people are too lazy or afraid of one on one or face to face conversations anymore. E-mailing one another or texting seems a lot more convenient than waiting for a phone call or letter in the mail. It seems nearly everything today is able to be accessed by cell phones or computers and people do not even have to get out of bed to go shopping, rent a movie or buy groceries. This all seems great knowing that all the answers are just a click away, but the Internet does have a side effect, it is making people extremely lazy (Bradley). Technology is an excellent way of advertising. It does seem people are posting advertisement for events, new businesses and other information and this helps â€Å"spread the word† so to speak. A facebook group was created for Betty White to host Saturday Night Live. A couple months later, she is booked on the show. Artists such as Justin Beiber and Fitz and the Tantrums were made famous by sites such as YouTube and Twitter when other famous artists â€Å"discovered† them and put them out to the world, so to speak. But maybe â€Å"spreadi ng the word† and exposing people to new things has become too personal? Why must people post nearly every detail of their life on sites like facebook or Twitter? People appear to be more intrigued in â€Å"creeping† on other’s status and whereabouts, staring at a computer screen for hours and updating their own status ratherShow MoreRelatedCan We Live Without Technology?985 Words   |  4 PagesCould We Live Without Technology? â€Å"WE live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection† (Turkle, â€Å"The Flight from Conversation† par. 1). In today’s society we all rely on the use of technology, because it is everywhere around us. We as people are losing common social skills because of the use of smart phones, texting, and the Internet. We rely on smart phones to tell other people plans. We text instead of having aRead MoreTechnology : We Can No Longer Live Without It?1217 Words   |  5 PagesTechnology: We can no longer live without it. Society has come a long way with the use of technology. In 1876, the first phone arose. 95 years later the personal computer was also invented in 1971. Now 45 years later we have the capabilities of both in the palms of our hands. It used to take us weeks to communicate with someone a few cities away. It now only takes a few seconds to communicate with someone in a completely different country. Where it used to take hours to research information inRead MoreSociety Can Not Survive Without Technology1266 Words   |  6 PagesSociety Cannot Survive without Technology Technology has evolved over the years, but what exactly is technology? It is quite simple. It is everything that has made human lives over the course of time easier. This can be from chairs to cars to computers. Even, the career of business was created with technology. We use technology in so made ways today including, easier communication and the constant want of making our lives easier, leads us to the rapid advancement of technology. What will happen whenRead MoreDo We Rely Too Much on Technology?844 Words   |  4 PagesDo we rely too much on technology? Technology is a great thing, it is used anywhere and everywhere around the world. Whether it’s a radio or an iPad, we all have some sort of technological device lying around somewhere in the house. Technology can be portrayed as our twenty-first century slave (without the feeding). You can ask it to do something and it will do it for you, it is a way of improving our living conditions. This might draw you back on a present for your mum or your house bills, butRead MoreEssay on People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology880 Words   |  4 PagesBilguun Tugs-Amgalan Everett LeGrande English 1 5/April/2011 People have become overly dependent on technology Humans have been called the animals which make things, and at no time in history has this been so obvious as the present. Today, every human activity is dependent upon various tools, machines, and systems, from growing food to providing shelter to communication, healthcare, and entertainment. Some machines, like the tractor, speed up and make more efficient activities that humans haveRead MoreThe History of Chemistry Essay798 Words   |  4 Pages Chemistry and technology are together and separate. Chemistry uses technology and technology uses chemistry. The history of chemistry and technology is long going back to the ancient times. Chemistry was used even by the oldest civilizations, like Egypt. It was really popular during the medieval times. Back then it was called Alchemy, which is turning metal into gold or even about the philosopher’s stone. As the years went by, Alchemy became a lost art and chemistry took it in place. Chemistry ledRead MoreTechnology Has Improved Our Quality Of Life1241 Words   |  5 PagesTechnology has recently become a very controversial part of our lives. Some will say technology has been attributed to man’s survival as a species. Through such developments as advances in medicine have greatly increased life expectancy and quality of life. While others will argue that wile technology has improved our quality of life it also has the power to destroy us. Technology has improved our lives but it has also caused new problems such as added stress, reliance, and a lack of interest inRead MoreThe Human Experience With Technology Essay715 Words   |  3 PagesExperience With Technology The world is full technology, almost everything you see is the result of technology. Our houses, cars, buildings, streets, lights, even simple things like spoons, pencils, and nail clippers are all examples of technology. We use it everyday without even think about how it affects us. We don?t think about how much a part of our society it has become, or what life would be like without it. We don?t question our technology once we become accustomed to it but maybe we shouldRead MoreEssay On Technology And Technology852 Words   |  4 PagesTechnology is a huge part of our everyday lives. Its something we use all the time, but we are becoming too attached to it. Technology is a privilege, but we are letting it destroy our lives; the more technology we have the less we actually socialize with people. It can be a great tool, but overuse holds us back from living our lives to the fullest. Sometimes we need to put technology aside, and allow ourselves to see how beautiful life really is . Everyone in today’s society has a cell phone. TheRead MoreModern Technology: a Friend or a Foe?1572 Words   |  7 PagesModern Technology: A friend or a foe? Paolo A. Pantaleon 2-7 â€Å"Were changing the world with technology† (Gates). In this modern world, many people can’t survive without the aid of modern technology. Do you remember when people used to send messages through the use of the â€Å"pony express†? Or when people used to get up from their couch to change the channel of the television? I can’t imagine how people could live without modern technologies such as cell phones, internet, and many more. Technology

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Places and Forms of Power free essay sample

I will talk in this part of the notion: Places and forms of Power. We studied in class the Commonwealth of Nations and talk about her Majesty the Queen of England as a leading thread for this notion. Also to make It differently I have chosen to take as example the Media. They are called the 4th power and Internet Is called the 5th power. Since many years the media did not stop to evolve. In fact, from paper distributed In the street or In metro, to screen, nowadays people (especially young people) are getting their news from Internet.As a consequence a lot of papers closed down. The main question is: Do Medias nowadays are a vice or a virtue? Lets talk in the first place of the negative aspects of the media, then in the second place I will talk about the positive aspect. In many countries Medias are still manipulated, giving falsified information, thus influencing your advice. We will write a custom essay sample on Places and Forms of Power or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Moreover Medias are a good way to inform you but you dont eave to count on them to give you a cut-and-dried opinion.You have to develop your critical mind stepping back from what Is It said. The Medal can be very dangerous. It can destroy someones life or distort the truth to make audiences or sell tabloids. However Medals have positive aspects too. I read an article on the Boston bombings. Thanks to Medals we know that people were saved. Medias played a critical role to inform the situation immediately after a disaster. As e talked about in the previous part, Jeff Banyan saved by C.Redound in the Boston bombings received over $360. 000 in donations, thanks to the Media, to help pay the medical expenses. To conclude, nowadays Medias can be very dangerous and it is necessary to be careful on what they say. By the way it is very important to be well informed. We could say the media did not stop to evolve over the time Like our society. We could also link this evolution to another notion: The Idea of progress.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants and Growth Trend of Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi) in Nigeria 1970 - 2008 free essay sample

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS AND GROWTH TREND OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) IN NIGERIA: 1970 – 2008 BY IGUDIA, PATRICK PhD RESEARCH STUDENT IN MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN, AB24 1WU ABERDEEN MOBILE: 07423820801 EMAIL: [emailprotected] com AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS AND GROWTH TREND OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) IN NIGERIA: 1970 – 2008 Abstract International capital flows have increased dramatically in recent years particularly to the sub-Saharan Africa, but their impact on Nigeria has not been so clear. Consequently, this study investigates the economic indicators that are responsible for or can influence the inflows of FDI into Nigeria as it is believed to have the capacity to lead to industrialisation and economic growth of any nation. Employing the OLS regression methodology, our results showed an impressive FDI inflow to Nigeria with occasional variability. It further revealed that there was a positive relationship between GDP, BOP, democratic government, and government expenditure and FDI while on the other hand there exists an inverse relationship between inflation, and government policies and FDI. The study proffers some recipes such as the need to improve existing political climate; reinvigorating the non-oil export activities; and the need to introduce greater depth and comprehensive review of the on-going restructuring of investment policies of government such as divesting in and privatising PHCN, NNPC and many more of their type for efficiency. 1. Introduction The importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) has long been acknowledged and discussed in academic literature worldwide. For example, it is argued that FDI has the potency to benefit developing countries in many ways including its ability to: i. Complement the unimpressive internal efforts of these nations to fill their resource gaps in order to rescue their battered economies; ii. Help to massively inject foreign capital or resources in order to generate and bring about the much needed increase in output, minimize their ever rising unemployment rate and reduce the escalating rate of inflation; and iii. Create a non-debt external resource through the acquisition of foreign technology, transformation of the structure of their domestic outputs and provide an array of goods and services to residents of the recipient countries, the diversification and expansion of the non-oil export sector of the oil dependent countries such as Nigeria, and the effective management of their external liabilities. Generally, FDI has the potency to spark an economic performance of both the host and exporting countries and spur appropriate policy frameworks. Admittedly, an underlying investment and business principle is that the movement of capital can only be undertaking by a rational investor if such investment would yield tangible returns to him given favourable financial market regulations, economic and most importantly political factors that prevail in the receiving country that will ensure the safety of life and investment. The research questions that are to be addressed by this study therefore are: 1. What are the factors that have affected the flow of FDI to Nigeria during the intervening period? 2. What are the relationships between the observed FDI inflow and the size of the Nigerian market, economic situation and the prevailing political environment? 3. Has any or all the factors either adversely or positively affected the movement of FDI to Nigeria? Foreign private investment has remarkable potentials for regenerating the economy of the importing or receiving country. This assertion is without prejudice to the arguments of scholars like Ake (1978), Oyande (1976), Ohiorhenuah (1983) who separately argued that FDI enables foreigners to dominate domestic economies, create distortions in the domestic labour market by paying higher or discriminatory wages. As a matter of fact, Nigeria between 1962 and 1986 adopted a conjecture of numerous developmental and investment policies that could be interpreted inimical or adverse to foreign investors. While the industrialising countries of Eastern Asia (the Asian Tigers) adopted an open door policy towards encouraging foreign investments, Nigeria adopted the indigenisation decree (Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decree NEPD) in 1972 and thus nationalised all British concerns in Nigeria in 1975/76 for political reasons rather than economic. These had the unfortunate effect of retarding foreign investment inflows. While the country pretended to encourage foreign investment in theory and principle, it nonetheless executed policies that discouraged FDI in practice. For example, a controlled interest rate, managed and officially fixed exchange rate regimes, strict and exclusive trade policies as well as government full time and active participation in business during this review period up until the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986 provided wrong signals to potential investors hence the country recorded a low average FDI level of 0. 79 per cent between 1973 and 1989 (Anyanwu, 1998). Nigeria opened its doors, in the true sense of the word, to foreign investment beginning from 1986. SAP as a policy framework was a deliberate and desperate attempt by the then military government to combat the triple problems of hyper inflation, domestic recession and most importantly balance of payment deficit which the country was going through that together acted as disincentives to FDI inflows. These were products of the structural rigidities that characterised the pre-SAP Nigerian economy with the endemic hydra-headed corruption and outright looting of public funds by government officials. Given the anticipated positive spiral and trickle-down effects of FDI to the recipient economies it stands to reason why Nigeria in the light of her prolonged chequered economic recession and macroeconomic instability has decided to formulate and prosecute strong economic programmes such as SAP, National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), vision 2010 and now vision-20-20-20 among others to stimulate growth and development of the Nigeria’s domestic output, minimise he rate of inflation which stands at two digits presently, reduce the high unemployment level, put a lid on the rising stock of external debt after her previous debt was forgiven, acquire foreign technology and substantially reduce depreciation of /the exchange rate of the naira which has hit the rooftops in recent years. 2. Literature Review FDI is defined as the mobilization of men, money, materials and entrepreneurship across country borders mainly from the developed to the developing countries to form business concerns (Igudia, 1998). It is the flow of capital and human resources from one country to another country. The ownership of such capital can be individual, corporate bodies or government (Yakub, 2003). When viewed from the perspective of finance, FDI refers to a kind of lending in the form of equity participation (Obadan, 2004). In general, FDI involves the transfer of technology, managerial know-how, capital, personnel and marketing expertise from the country of export to the recipient country. The World Bank (1996) defines FDI as investment that enables the investor to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise in a country other than the investor’s own country with the aim of having an effective voice in the management of such an enterprise. Odozi (1995) sees foreign investment as the inflow or transfer of a package of resources including capital, technology, management, marketing expertise, reinvested earnings, equity capital or net borrowing from parent companies or affiliates into another country. Anyanwu (1998) opines that foreign direct investment means the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and both long and short-term capitals as represented in the balance of payment statement of account of the receiving country. The determinants of FDI has been variously interpreted and classified (see for example Oyeranti (2003); Akinkugbe (2003); Asiedu (2002); Anyanwu (1998); Dunning (1994); Yauri (2006)). While Akinkugbe (2003) argues that the determinants of FDI are based on some locational advantages classified as pull-factors, Asiedu (2002) argues that such factors can be classified into two – the market-seeking and non market-seeking factors. However, Anyanwu (1998) in his study broadened the classification into four as 1. The Natural Resource-seeking investment; 2. Market-seeking investment; 3. Efficiency-seeking investment; and 4. Strategic asset-seeking investment. The first two categories justify the main reasons for an initial foreign entry by a firm in whatever sector of the economy be it in the primary, secondary or tertiary sector while the other two categories represent the motives for expanding an already existing foreign investment by an established foreign investor. The efficiency-seeking investments are intended and most times lead to increase in efficiency of the activities of regional or global companies popularly called transnational corporations (TNC) by way of integrating their assets, production and markets. On the other hand, the purpose of the strategic asset-seeking investment is to acquire resources and capabilities that an investing firm believes will sustain and advance its core competencies at regional or global markets (Anyanwu, 1998). Both the efficiency-seeking and strategic asset-seeking investment modes are frequently the most swiftly way of attaining competitive advantages and market domination in their respective industries (Wendt, 1993). However, these classifications are underpinned by what may be termed raison d’etre: the reason to invest in another man’s country is rather predicated on some salient underlying justifications which are predominantly economic with fewer political undertones. All of these categories are represented in table 1. Table 2. 1: Underlying Justification for FDI S/No| Type/Nature of Investment | Raison d’etre (Underlying Driver or Justification)| 1| Natural Resource-Seeking * Human Resources i. Men (labour) ii. Entrepreneurship * Physical Resources i. Money ii. Material iii. Technology | Include all reasons that spur the initial need to undertake foreign direct investment including domestic demand (large market and high income), profit maximization and cost minimization. 2| Market-Seeking * International Markets * Regional Markets * Domestic Markets| In addition to (1) above, the reasons here include, among others, the need to either create or expand an already existing market for a bigger coverage and representation. | 3| Efficiency-SeekingGeared towards creating and exploiting the economies of efficiency * Across Product * Along Process | To integrate assets, production and markets across countries by establishing Trans-National Corporations and benefitting from he cost-cutting measures d erivable from the efficiency of specialisation. | 4| Strategic Asset-SeekingTo create assets with foreign network outlook at regional or global level underpinning through * Market domination * Strategically developed Technology * Improved organisational capabilities | Here, the reasons include (3) above in addition to, among others, the need to acquire resources and capabilities to advance competencies at regional or global level. | Sources: Adapted from Dunning (1994) and Anyanwu (1998). Although opinions are divided among foreign investment theorists and analysts as to the actual benefits derivable from foreign investment by the recipient country/economy, there seems to be consensus that before a foreign investor decides to commit his or her money in a country order than his/her own, there must be in existence some motivating factors. In this wise, FDI as an issue of industrial organisation, is most likely to be undertaking if there is an ownership specific advantage. Thus, Dunning (1994) has argued that foreign private investment (FPI) is most likely if firms: 1. Possess ownership-specific advantages relative to the host country’s firms in sourcing markets; 2. Find it profitable to use these ownership-specific advantages themselves rather than to lease them to the host firms; and 3. Find it profitable to utilise their ownership-specific advantages in the host country rather than at home. This argument is an allusion to the fact that FDI is possible only when certain factors and conditions as listed above present themselves. Other writers either based on time series or cross sectional data for both developed and developing countries, (see Banga (2003); Obwona (1997); Tae-Hyon (1995); Leftwich (1973); Papanek (1973); Anyanwu (1998)) have argued that there are minimum economic and political factors that determine and act as incentives for the inflow of foreign investments into a country from abroad. For a foreigner to invest in a given country there must be in place a wide range of factors in the host country which Obwona (1997) listed to include; i. Availability and low cost of natural and human resources ii. Adequate infrastructure and support facilities iii. Large market size iv. Trade policy and other policies that affect macroeconomic stability v. Economic growth and development vi. Political stability In his argument, Tae-Hyon (1995) affirms that factors such as low inflationary pressure, stable exchange rate, liberalised interest rate and democratisation of a country’s policy are capable of positively influencing foreign investment into a country. He demonstrated how the capital inflow in Korea grew tremendously by over 501. 5 per cent in the 1970s due to sizeable market, rapidly growing GNP, a developed and productive infrastructure, an efficient and disciplined labour force, the abolishment of free export zones, and other policies in favour of investors in the local, heavy and chemical industries. Leftwich (1973) in an empirical investigation of the trend and determinants of foreign direct investment in the United States of America for the period 1962-1971 submits that of the three factors used, the size of the market of the host country contributed largely to FDI inflow while the rate of growth of the market and level of tariffs in the host country though contributed were not as significant as the former. Some of the benefits from FDI include the roles it plays in the process of raising aggregate investment in the receiving country at least in the short run. It has been argued that consistent and managed inflows of foreign investment provides an important source of foreign exchange earnings needed to supplement domestic savings and eventually augment local investment level (Chete, 1998). Writing in the same vein, Obadan (2004) argues that FDI has the potential to address the host country’s constraints of low levels of domestic investment and foreign exchange shortages. The fact is that inflows of foreign investment can only bring in foreign exchange, supplement domestic industries and reduce import bills if and only if such inflows are properly and well managed. Foreign investment also indirectly helps to regenerate the local economy of the host country through spurring increased investment in the local industries and by implication increase their capability to earn foreign exchange. Finally, Feldstein (2000), Loungani and Razin (2001) and Razin and Sadka (2002) noted that FDI actually increases the quantum of investments in and growth of the host country’s economy through the gains the host country derives from FDI. These are in the form of: i. Transfer of technology through new varieties of capital inputs which ordinarily cannot be achieved through either financial investments or trade in goods and services. ii. Human capital development which is gained through the training of employees in the course of operating the new businesses iii. Revenue generation through corporate tax and increase in GDP from the productive activities of the established companies. 3. Model Specifications Several authors have identified a number of factors that determine FDI {see Yakub (2005), Obadan (2004), Oyeranti (2003), Aremu (2003), Saggi (2002)}. Though these factors vary from author to author and from country to country, this particular study seeks to utilize some of these already identified factors to see if our results for Nigeria for the period under review will corroborate the findings of these previous writers. Nigeria has several features capable of attracting foreign investment inflows. For example, her large and virile population makes her a vastly attractive market (Odozi, 1995). She equally has abundant human and material resources including cheap labour and most recently political stability in the form of democratic governance. There is a consensus among development and political economists that a country that is stable politically has high prospects of attracting FDI. How stable a country’s polity is can be determined by several factors including the rate and nature of change of government in terms of number of coup d’etat, the rate of civil unrest and wars, the number of intra and inter-ethnic conflicts and so on. Several variables have been selected for empirical analysis in this study. One of such is the gross domestic product (GDP). It is used here as proxy for market size and level of economic development. This is in agreement with the general argument that GDP to a large extent determines the resource position and size of a nation’s market because of its ability and fluidity to allow for economies of scale (Anyanwu, 1998). Other factors included in this study are balance of trade (BOT), government expenditure, democratic government and government policy instruments. BOT measures the difference between imports and exports. As Fry (1983) puts it, a high BOT can discourage government from pursuing policies that are foreign investment friendly while low BOT encourages FDI. This might explain why the Nigerian government had in the past remained closed and uninterested on the issue of capital and income repatriation by foreigners because she enjoyed relative favourable BOT. With regard to democratic government, Odozi (1995), Anyanwu (1998) and Papanek (1992) separately argued that it measures the number of coup d’etats, ethnic conflicts or violence, wars and the type of governance which individually and collectively can determine the volume of FDI flows. Government policy options are qualitative in nature and as such we have assigned dummy values. For democratic government, the dummy value of zero (0) has been assigned to the periods of political interregnum while one (1) is assigned to years of democratic rule. Consequently, the years between 1979 and 1983, and 1999 and 2010 being periods of democratic rule have dummy one (1) while dummy zero (0) is assigned to the years/events between 1970 and 1978, and between 1984 and 1998 being periods of coup d’etats and military rule. For government policy regulations, dummy one (1) is assigned to 1982 and 1993 (period of stabilisation and SAP) and 1999 and 2010 (period of intense liberalisation and privatisation) while other years outside these periods shall be assigned zero (0). To facilitate our empirical analysis, the following statistical connotation need to be further expressed and defined. FDI = Foreign Direct Investment GDP = Gross Domestic Product BOT = Balance of Trade INF = Inflation GOVTEXP = Government Expenditure GOVTPol = Government Policy Dummy DEMGOVT = Democratic Government Dummy . 2. Regression Models Despite its various shortcomings, the simple regression equations as shown below have been employed to show the individual contributions of the separate factors to the facilitation of FDI inflows to Nigeria. Given the above, the models exhibit some linearity between the dependent variable (FDI) and the explanatory variables in line with the ‘naive’ Keynesian textbook model. Thus, our a priori expected signs are as follows: 4. Presentation and Analysis of Data 4. 1. Trend Analysis of Absolute Inflows of Private Capital to Nigeria (1970 – 2008) Table 2 presents Nigeria’s cumulative FDI flows for the period 1970 – 2008. It shows that gross FDI inflow rose stupendously in absolute terms from #251. 0 million in 1970 to an all time high of #54,254. 2 million in 2007 representing 216. 15 fold increases. However, with #37,777. 7 million in 2008, the rate of increase between 1970 and 2008 was 150. 51 fold increases. In the first decade (1970 – 1979), FDI inflows increased by a multiple of 280. 48% in absolute terms. Also in absolute terms, the second, third and forth decades recorded increases of 596. 73%, 38. 62%, 2310. 64%. However, all through the review period FDI inflows fluctuated and showed high variability particularly between 1981 and 2002 due mainly to some political turbulence and upheavals such as the anti-SAP and June-12 riots and adverse government policies. Generally, FDI inflows showed some relatively impressive increases in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2006 and 2007 in no particular order. Table 2: Flow of Non-Oil Foreign Private Capital in Nigeria from 1970 – 2008 (#’Million) Year| Total Inflow| Total Outflow| Total Net-flow| 1970| 251. 0| 129. 4| 121. 6| 1971| 489. 6| 170. 0| 319. 6| 1972| 432. 8| 184. 5| 248. 3| 973| 577. 8| 385. 2| 192. 6| 1974| 507. 1| 458. 8| 48. 3| 1975| 757. 4| 282. 0| 475. 4| 1976| 521. 1| 474. 8| 46. 3| 1977| 717. 3| 519. 7| 197. 6| 1978| 664. 7| 332. 9| 331. 8| 1979| 704. 0| 414. 1| 289. 9| 1980| 786. 4| 319. 4| 467. 0| 1981| 584. 9| 447. 1| 137. 8| 1982| 2,193. 4| 568. 5| 1,624. 9| 1983| 1,673. 6| 1,116. 9| 556. 7| 1984| 1,385. 3| 850. 5| 534. 8| 1985 | 1,423. 5| 1,093. 8| 329. 7| 1986| 4,024. 0| 1,524. 4| 2,499. 6| 1987| 5,110. 8| 4,430. 8| 680. 0| 1988| 6,236. 7| 4,891. 1| 1,345. 6| 1989| 4,692. 7| 5,132. 1| (439. 4)| 1990| 10,450. 2| 10,914. | (464. 3)| 1991| 5,610. 2| 3,802. 2| 1,808. 0| 1992| 11,730. 7| 3,461. 5| 8,269. 2| 1993| 42,624. 9| 9,630. 5| 32. 994. 4| 1994| 7,825. 5| 3,918. 3| 3,907. 2| 1995| 55,999. 3| 7,322. 3| 48,677. 0| 1996| 5,672. 9| 2,941. 9| 2,731. 0| 1997| 10,004. 0| 4,275. 0| 5,731. 0| 1998| 32,434. 5| 8,355. 6| 24,078. 9| 1999| 4,035. 5| 2,256. 4| 1,779. 1| 2000| 16,453. 6| 13,106. 6| 3,347. 0| 2001| 4,937. 0| 1,560. 0| 3,377. 0| 2002| 8,988. 5| 781. 7| 8,206. 8| 2003| 13,531. 2| 475. 1| 13,056. 1| 2004| 20,064. 4| 155. 7| 19,908. 7| 2005| 26,083. 7| 202. 4| 25,881. | 2006| 41,734. 0| 263. 1| 41,470. 7| 2007| 54,254. 2| 328. 8| 53,924. 8| 2008/1| 37,977. 7| 4,362. 5| 33,615. 2| /1 = Provisional Source: Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, 2008 (50 Years Special Anniversary Edition) Table 3 revea ls that FDI in Nigeria was once dominated by companies from the UK up till 1992. In 1993, companies from Western Europe took lead, followed by those from the USA. The dominance of FDI by Western Europe has remained till now (2008). The next in lead was the USA up until 1997. By 1998, U. K. took over the second position followed by USA and other countries in that order. This fluctuation was dictated by these countries’ foreign policies in relation to their perceive opinions of the foreign policy direction of the Nigeria. Table 3: Cumulative FDI in Nigeria by Country of Origin Year| United Kingdom| United States| Western Europe| Others| Total (#’Million)| | Amount(#’Million)| %| Amount(#’Million)| %| Amount(#’Million)| %| Amount(#’Million)| %| | 1970| 444. 4| 44. 3| 230. 0| 22. 9| 224. 8| 22. 4| 104. 0| 10. 4| 1,003. 2| 1971| 592. 0| 44. 8| 337. 4| 25. 5| 261. 0| 19. 7| 132. 4| 10. 0| 1,322. 8| 1972| 769. 7| 49. 0| 286. 6| 18. 2| 367. 0| 23. 4| 147. 8| 9. 4| 1,571. 1| 1973| 860. | 48. 8| 308. 0| 17. 5| 415. 2| 23. 5| 179. 6| 10. 2| 1,763. 7| 1974| 832. 8| 46. 0| 300. 0| 16. 6| 459. 8| 25. 4| 219. 5| 12. 1| 1,812. 1| 1975| 857. 5| 37. 5| 535. 2| 23. 4| 590. 1| 25. 8| 304. 7| 13. 3| 2,287. 5| 1976| 947. 2| 40. 5| 376. 2| 16. 1| 653. 1| 27. 9| 362. 5| 15. 5| 2,339. 0| 1977| 1,072. 8| 42. 4| 287. 2| 11. 3| 739. 0 | 29. 2| 432. 4| 17. 1| 2,531. 4| 1978| 1,195. 3| 41. 7| 342. 4| 12. 0| 847. 6| 29. 6| 477. 9| 16. 7| 2,863. 2| 1979| 1,103. 6| 35. 0| 565. 8| 17. 9| 976. 0| 31. 0| 507. 7| 16. 1| 3,153. 1| 1980| 1,421. 8| 39. 3| 566. 2| 15. 0| 1,107. 2| 30. 6| 524. 9| 14. 5| 3,620. | 1981| 1,429. 2| 38. 0| 438. 6| 11. 7| 1,350. 0| 35. 9| 540. 1| 14. 4| 3,757. 9| 1982| 1,993. 8| 37. 0| 1,171. 6| 21. 8| 1,557. 6| 28. 9| 659. 8| 12. 3| 5,382. 8| 1983| 2,606. 8| 43. 8| 873. 0| 16. 4| 1,684. 2| 28. 3| 685. 5| 11. 5| 5,949. 5| 1984| 3,043. 4| 47. 4| 964. 9| 15. 0| 1,659. 1| 25. 8| 750. 9| 11. 7| 6,418. 3| 1985| 3,594. 2| 52. 8| 860. 2| 12. 6| 1,601. 1| 23. 5| 748. 5| 11. 0| 6,804. 0| 1986| 5,073. 9| 54. 5| 1,381. 5| 14. 8| 1,828. 9| 19. 6| 1,029. 3| 11. 1| 9,313. 6| 1987| 5,508. 1| 55. 1| 1,198. 5| 12. 0| 2,053. 4| 20. 5| 1,233. 6| 12. 3| 9,993. 6| 1988| 4,724. 9| 41. 7| 2,734. | 24. 1| 2,512. 8| 22. 2| 1,366. 7| 12. 1| 11,339. 2| 1989| 6,254. 3| 57. 4| 642. 8| 5. 6| 2,440. 6| 22. 4| 1,561. 9| 14. 3| 10, 899. 6| 1990| 6,828. 6| 65. 4| 209. 3| 2. 0| 1,509. 7| 14. 5| 1,888. 5| 18. 1| 10,436. 1| 1991| 7,247. 6| 59. 2| (826. 7)| (6. 8)| 2,840. 1| 23. 2| 2,982. 3| 24. 4| 12,243. 5| 1992| 7,808. 0| 38. 1| 6,010. 1| 29. 3| 3,587. 1| 17. 5| 3,107. 4| 15. 1| 20,512. 7| 1993| 11,441. 3| 17. 1| 12,051. 8| 18. 0| 39,445. 8| 59. 0| 3,848. 1| 5. 4| 66,787. 0| 1994| 12,578. 0| 17. 8| 13,439. 4| 19. 0| 39,178. 4| 55. 4| 5,518. 8| 7. 8| 70,714. 6| 1995| 15,794. 1| 13. | 18,482. 9| 15. 5| 77,463. 4| 64. 9| 7,651. 3| 6. 4| 119,391. 6| 1996| 16,988. 9| 13. 9| 18,673. 2| 15. 2| 78,712. 7| 64. 5| 8,226. 2| 6. 7| 122,600. 9| 1997| 17,221. 5| 13. 4| 22,442. 0| 17. 5| 80,150. 3| 62. 4| 8,518. 2| 6. 8| 128,331. 8| 1998| 31,367. 9| 20. 6| 21,573. 6| 14. 2| 82,279. 2| 54. 0| 17,171. 8| 11. 3| 152,409. 6| 1999| 32,603. 5| 21. 1| 20,084. 1| 13. 0| 83,558. 3| 54. 2| 17,942. 7| 11. 6| 154,188. 6| 2000| 32,779. 3| 20. 8| 21,939. 6| 13. 9| 84,466. 1| 53. 6| 18,350. 4| 11. 7| 157,535. 4| 2001| 35,452. 3| 22. 0| 22,62 6. 6| 14. 1| 86,175. 1| 52. 5| 19,089. 4| 11. 8| 162,343. | 2002| 36,841. 4| 22. 1| 22,446. 9| 13. 5| 86,324. 4| 51. 8| 21,818. 9| 12. 6| 166,631. 6| 2003| 41,765. 6| 23. 4| 25,364. 8| 14. 2| 88,287. 9| 49. 5| 23,059. 7| 12. 6| 178,478. 0| 2004| 48,972. 1| 19. 7| 28,350. 9| 11. 4| 91,452. 2| 36. 1| 80,545. 4| 32. 4| 249,220. 6| 2005| 58,218. 2| 21. 6| 32,087. 5| 11. 9| 95,018. 1| 35. 2| 84,520. 9| 31. 3| 269,844. 7| 2006| 73,012. 0| 24. 1| 38,066. 0| 12. 6| 100,883. 5| 33. 3| 90,881. 8| 30. 0| 302,843. 3| 2007| 87,614. 4| 24. 1| 46,440. 5| 12. 8| 119,077. 8| 32. 7| 110,875. 8| 30. 5| 364,008. 5| 2008/1| 100,030. 7| 25. 2| 50,786. 6| 12. 9| 124,077. | 31. 2| 122,500. 6| 30. 8| 397,395. 2| /1 = Provisional Source: Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, 2008 (50 Years Special Anniversary Edition) Table 3 showcases the cumulative levels of net FDI in Nigeria by country of origin. From the 1970 value of #1,003. 2 million, the cumulative FDI in Nigeria rose stupendously to #397,395 . 2 million in 2008 in absolute terms representing an increase of 39,612. 76% increase over the 29 year period. There has been a consistent increase in the cumulative FDI despite the recorded fluctuations or decline in the percentages invested by the various countries. The point is that what is lost by a country is made up for by other countries thus maintaining the observed consistent increases. Table 4: Cumulative FDI in Nigeria Analysed by Type of Activity (#’Million) Year| Mining Quarrying| ManufacturingProcessing| Agriculture,Forestry Fishery| Transport Communication| BuildingConstruction| Trade BusinessServices| MiscellaneousServices| FDIGrand Total| 1970| 515. 4| 224. 8| 11. 2| 13. 8| 13. 8| 206. 6| 17. 6| 1,003. 2| 1971| 694. 0| 378. 8| 15. 4| 12. 0| 15. 4| 187. 2| 20. 0| 1,322. 8| 1972| 859. 7| 356. 6| 9. 4| 12. 2| 34. 3| 242. 7| 56. 2| 1,571. 1| 1973| 925. | 409. 0| 7. 4| 11. 6| 45. 0| 294. 7| 70. 2| 1,763. 7| 1974| 818. 1| 520. 4| 20. 7| 21. 9| 64. 2| 321. 3| 45. 5| 1,812. 1| 1975| 959. 6| 506. 2| 19. 2| 22. 8| 111. 2| 572. 4| 96. 1| 2,287. 5| 1976| 918. 9| 550. 7| 21. 9| 16. 2| 122. 5| 624. 8| 84. 0| 2,339. 0| 1977| 1,090. 8| 703. 8| 75. 0| 30. 6| 121. 4| 365. 5| 144. 3| 2,531. 4| 1978| 421. 3| 1,263. 4| 117. 6| 55. 6| 224. 3| 52 2. 5| 258. 5| 2,863. 2| 1979| 466. 8| 1,402. 5| 120. 8| 60. 5| 294. 3| 550. 5| 257. 7| 3,153. 1| 1980| 677. 4| 1,503. 9| 120. 5| 62. 2| 307. 8| 693. 2| 255. 1| 3,620. 1| 1981| 526. 0| 1,705. 7| 120. 5| 60. 8| 325. 9| 767. | 251. 8| 3,757. 9| 1982| 974. 0| 1,922. 5| 120. 5| 68. 9| 422. 5| 1,483. 6| 390. 8| 5,382. 8| 1983| 511. 2| 2,128. 1| 127. 8| 77. 3| 443. 9| 2,274. 9| 386. 3| 5,949. 5| 1984| 702. 8| 2,109. 3| 128. 5| 80. 6| 439. 0| 2,622. 5| 335. 6| 6,418. 3| 1985| 744. 0| 2,278. 1| 126. 0| 85. 9| 453. 2| 2,697. 9| 418. 9| 6,804. 0| 1986| 2,510. 4| 2,810. 2| 128. 2| 80. 4| 501. 6| 2,753. 0| 529. 8| 9,313. 6| 1987| 2,260. 2| 3,122. 3| 117. 3| 75. 6| 462. 6| 3,396. 5| 559. 1| 9,993. 6| 1988| 3,403. 0| 3,637. 0| 128. 9| 160. 6| 492. 7| 3,133. 7| 383. 3| 1,339. 2| 1989| 636. 7| 5,406. 4| 134. 8| 158. 2| 481. | 3,497. 2| 584. 7| 10,899. 6| 1990| 1,091. 6| 6,339. 0| 334. 7| 240. 5| 743. 6| 1,710. 4| (23. 7)| 10,436. 1| 1991| (810. 0)| 8,692. 4| 382. 8| 373. 2| 1,471. 6| 1,452. 2| 682. 0| 1 2,243. 5| 1992| 6,417. 2| 9,746. 3| 386. 4| 391. 5| 1,406. 6| 1,482. 5| 682. 2| 20,512. 7| 1993| 27,686. 9| 12,885. 1| 1,214. 9| 426. 4| 71. 2| 1,864. 5| 22,638. 0| 66,787. 0| 1994| 26,680. 0| 14,059. 9| 1,208. 5| 429. 6| 1,707. 0| 2,247. 6| 24,381. 1| 70,714. 6| 1995| 56,747. 3| 27,668. 8| 1,2090| 374. 8| 1,553. 0| 2,990. 7| 28,848. 0| 119,391. 6| 1996| 56,792. 3| 29,814. 3| 1,2090| 485. 6| 1,864. 3| 3,668. 7| 28,766. | 122,600. 9| 1997| 59,221. 4| 31,297. 2| 1,2090| 672. 6| 1,259. 8| 3,625. 7| 31,046. 2| 128,331. 8| 1998| 59,970. 5| 34,503. 9| 1,2090| 689. 2| 3,888. 3| 10,460. 5| 41,689. 5| 152,409. 6| 1999| 58,855. 4| 36,282. 1| 1,2090| 820. 3| 3,995. 9| 10,927. 3| 42,100. 4| 154,188. 6| 2000| 60,710. 9| 37,333. 6| 1,2090| 820. 3| 3,995. 9| 11,201. 3| 42,237. 6| 157,535. 4| 2001| 61,611. 9| 37,779. 6| 1,2090| 955. 3| 4,211. 9| 12,016. 3| 43,657. 6| 162,343. 4| 2002| 61,611. 9| 39,953. 6| 1,2090| 1,736. 3| 4,293. 9| 12,317. 3| 45,509. 6| 166,631. 6| 2003| 61,809. 1| 45,719. 4 | 1,2090| 2,890. 5| 4,545. 8| 14,457. 3| 49,056. | 178,478. 0| 2004| 61,145. 7| 102,995. 8| 1,2090| 4,281. 1| 5,194. 1| 20,242. 4| 53,571. 2| 249,220. 6| 2005| 80,789. 4| 133,894. 5| 1,2090| 5,565. 4| 6,713. 3| 26,315. 1| 69,642. 6| 269,844. 7| 2006| 105,668. 4| 212,729. 4| 1,209. 0| 8,291. 0| 10,461. 1| 41,309. 3| 102,780. 0| 302,843. 3| 2007| 132,085. 5| 219,512. 0| 1,329. 9| 10,758. 2| 12,030. 2| 47,505. 7| 129,277. 1| 364,008. 5| 2008/1| 140,497. 1| 229,764. 6| 1,397. 2| 11,383. 3| 12,702. 5| 50,194. 9| 140,370. 1| 397,395. 2| /1 = Provisional Source: Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin 2005 and 2008 (50 Years Special Anniversary Edition) Table 4 shows how FDI has been distributed among the seven sectors of the economy. The investment levels of all the sectors increased during our review period with each sector having its particular boom and recessed periods depending on the policies of government. However, substantial increases were noticed beginning from 1993 in all the sub-sectors with no particular trend observed or be traced to any particular sector during the period except for miscellaneous services, Mining Quarrying and Manufacturing Processing which showed higher percentage increases at some points. Table 5: Components of Net Capital Flow by Country of Origin from 1970 – 2008 (#’Million) Year| United Kingdom| United States of America| Western Europe| Others| Total | 1970| 47. 4| 26. 4| 29. 6| 18. 2| 121. 6| 1971| 147. 6| 107. 4| 36. 2| 28. 4| 319. 6| 1972| 177. 7| (50. 7)| 106. 0| 15. 3| 248. 3| 1973| 91. 2| 21. 3| 48. 2| 31. 9| 192. 6| 1974| (28. 1)| (7. 9)| 44. 6| 39. 7| 48. 3| 1975| 24. 7| 235. 2| 130. 3| 85. 2| 475. 4| 1976| 84. 5| (159. 0)| 62. 9| 57. 9| 46. 3| 1977| 130. 8| (89. 0)| 85. 9| 69. 9| 197. 6| 1978| 122. 5| 55. 2| 108. 6| 45. 5| 331. 8| 1979| (91. 7)| 223. 4| 128. 4| 29. 8| 289. 9| 980| 318. 2| 0. 4| 131. 2| 17. 2| 467. 0| 1981| 7. 4| (128. 1)| 242. 8| 15. 2| 137. 3| 1982| 564. 6| 733. 0| 207. 6| 119. 7| 1,624. 9| 1983| 615. 0| (200. 6)| 116. 6| 25. 7| 556. 7| 1984| 500. 0| (6. 1)| (25. 1)| 65. 4| 534. 8| 1985| 484. 8| (94. 7)| (59. 0)| (2. 4)| 329. 7| 1986| 1,479. 7| 511. 3| 227. 8| 280. 8| 2,499. 6| 1987| 434. 2| (183. 0)| 224. 5| 204. 3| 680. 0| 1988| (783. 2)| 1,536. 3| 459. 4| 133. 1| 1,345. 6| 1989| 1,529. 6| (2,092. 0)| (72. 2)| 195. 2| (439. 4)| 1990| 573. 5| (433. 5)| (930. 9)| 326. 6| (464. 3)| 1991| 419. 5| (1,035. 9)| 1,330. 2| 1,094. 2| 1,808. 0| 1992| 560. 4| 6,836. | 747. 4| 124. 5| 8,269. 2| 1993| 3,633. 3| 6,041. 8| 22,558. 2| 761. 1| 32,994. 4| 1994| 1,136. 7| 1,387. 6| (267. 4)| 1,650. 3| 3,907. 2| 1995| 3,216. 1| 5,043. 5| 38,285. 0| 2,132. 5| 48,677. 0| 1996| 1,194. 8| (288. 2)| 1,249. 4| 575. 0| 2,731. 0| 1997| 232. 6| 3,768. 7| 1,437. 6| 292. 0| 5,730. 9| 1998| 14,146. 4| (868. 4)| 2,147. 0| 8,653. 8| 24,078. 8| 1999| 1,235. 6| (1,489. 5)| 1,261. 0| 771. 9| 1,779. 1| 2000| 175. 8| 1,885. 6| 907. 7| 407. 9| 3,347. 0| 2001| 2,673. 7| (490. 0)| 738. 9| 451. 0| 3,377. 0| 2002| 4,027. 9| 1,761. 2| 1,300. 3| 1,116. 1| 8,205. 5| 2003| 6,045. 6| 2,918. 4| 2,161. | 1,930. 7| 13,056. 5| 2004| 7,206. 6| 2,986. 6| 3,065. 0| 6,650. 9| 19,909. 1| 2005| 9,368. 6| 3,882. 6| 3,984. 5| 8,646. 2| 25,881. 8| 2006| 14,989. 7| 6,212. 1| 6,375. 2| 13,893. 8| 41,470. 8| 2007| 19,620. 3| 8,085. 4| 8,369. 1| 17,967. 1| 54,041. 9| 2008/1| 12,590. 0| 3,103. 4| 6,006. 1| 11,958. 1| 33,657. 6| /1 = Provisional Source: Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, 2008 (50 Years Special Anniversary Edition) 4. 2. Presentation, Analysis and Discussion of Regression Results Model one is consistent with our a priori expectation of a positive relationship between GDP and FDI. The results show that the regression coefficient of GDP is 0. 017892 which implies that this quantity of increase in GDP yields a one unit increase in FDI. In other words, if GDP increases or changes by say about eighteen thousand naira (#18,000), FDP would increase or change in sympathy by a whopping one million naira (#1,000,000). This means that over our review period, GDP impacted so much on the inflows of FDI to the country. 1. FDI = 233690. 0 + 0. 017892GDP + Â µ (63399. 9) (0. 0039501) Note: The figures in parenthesis in the fitted estimated model are the standard errors. R2 = 0. 98270 DW = d* = 1. 778 @ 5% Significance level t* = 3. 476 tt(0. 0025) = 2. 042 at 5% significance level The test of goodness of fit shows that the coefficient of determination (R2) is equal to 0. 98270. These results reveal that 98. 3 per cent of the total increases in FDI are explained by the increases in GDP. The test of significance of the parameter estimate employing a 5% significance level usin g a two-tail test shows that our GDP is statistically significant in explaining the increases in FDI over the review period as the calculated t-test vale of 3. 48 is greater than the tabulated t-statistics value of 2. 04. 2. FDI = 55815. 2 + 0. 1295BOT + Â µ (12001. 4) (0. 018954) Note: The figures in parenthesis in the fitted estimated model are the standard errors. Model two is consistent with our a priori expectation and it shows that a 0. 11298 increase in BOT spurs a one per cent increase in FDI. In other words, if BOT increases or changes by one hundred and twelve thousand, nine hundred and fifty naira (#112,950), FDI would in sympathy increase or change by one million naira (#1,000,000). R2 = 0. 49660 DW = d* = 0. 20697 @ 5% Significance level t* = 5. 9593 tt(0. 0025) = 2. 042 at 5% significance level From the result of the goodness of fit, R2 = 0. 9660. Therefore, the total variation in FDI as a result of the variation in BOT is 49. 7 per cent. Employing a two-tail test at 5% level of significance with the degree of freedom of 37, the t-test shows that BOT is statistically significant in explaining the quantity of FDI that came into this country during the review period as t* = 5. 96 tt = 2. 04. 3. FDI = 87710. 9 699. 78INF + Â µ (25534. 4) (987. 08) Note: The figures in parenthesis in the fitted estimated model are the standard errors. R2 = 0. 013769 DW = d* = 0. 059708 @ 5% Significance level t* = -0. 70895 tt(0. 0025) = 2. 42 at 5% significance level Model three is inconsistent with our a priori expectation of positive relationship between inflation and FDI. The result reveals that a decrease of INF by 699. 8 units causes the FDI to increase by one unit. This means that there is an inverse relationship between Inflation and FDI. The result also reveals that the proportion of the increase or change observed in FDI over the review period as a result of changes in Inflation was approximately 1. 4 per cent. The t-test result shows that inflation was statistically insignificant in explaining the inflow of FDI during this period as t* = -0. 09 tt = 2. 04. 4. FDI = 14436. 1 + 0. 15665GOVTEXP + Â µ (4784. 3) (0. 0066827) Note: The figures in parenthesis in the fitted estimated model are the standard errors. R2 = 0. 93851 DW = d* = 0. 78725 @ 5% Significance level t* = 23. 44101 tt(0. 0025) = 2. 042 at 5% significance level Model 4 is a test result of the relationship between government expenditure and FDI. The result is consistent with our a priori expectation of positive relationship between FDI and government expenditure. A unit increase in FDI is as a result of every 0. 157 increase in government expenditure. In other words, if government expenditure increases or changes by one hundred and fifty-six thousand, six hundred and fifty naira (#156,650), FDI would in sympathy increase or change by one million naira (#1,000,000). The coefficient of determination R2 yielded 0. 93851 meaning that the proportion of the total increases in FDI observed during the review period is explained by a unit increase in government expenditure. The result of the t-test equally reveals that government expenditure is statistically significant in explaining the inflows of FDI to Nigeria during the period as t* = 23. 44 tt = 2. 04. 5. FDI = 32320. + 112462. 3DEMGOVT + Â µ (17178. 1) (28301. 1) Note: The figures in parenthesis in the fitted estimated model are the standard errors. R2 = 0. 30490 DW = d* = 0. 20895 @ 5% Significance level t* = 3. 97381 tt(0. 0025) = 2. 042 at 5% significance level Model five is consistent with our a priori expectation and it shows that a 112462. 3 increase in democratic government spurs a one unit increase in FDI. In other words, democratic governance causes a greater inflow of FDI. From the results, there was higher inflow of FDI during the period of democratic government in Nigeria than the military period over the review period. From the result of the goodness of fit, R2 = 0. 30490. Therefore, the total variation in FDI as a result of the variation in government is 30. 5 per cent. Employing a two-tail test at 5% level of significance with the degree of freedom of 37, the t-test shows that democratic government was statistically significant in explaining the quantity of FDI that came into this country during the review period as t* = 3. 97 tt = 2. 04. 6. FDI = -11263. 5 5350. 6GOVTPol + Â µ (24969. 4) (6419. 2) Note: The figures in parenthesis in the fitted estimated model are the standard errors. R2 = 0. 7842 DW = d* = 1. 9087 @ 5% Significance level t* = -0. 83354 tt(0. 0025) = 2. 042 at 5% significance level Model six is inconsistent with our a priori expectation of positive relationship between government policies and FDI. In this model, there is an inverse relationship between government policies and FDI. The result reveals that an unfavourable change in government policies causes the FDI to change al so. The result also reveals that the proportion of the increase or change observed in FDI over the review period as a result of changes in government policies was approximately 97. 8 per cent. The t-test result shows that government policy was statistically insignificant in explaining the inflow of FDI during this period as t* = -0. 834 tt = 2. 04. In line with the findings of studies conducted at various times by previous writers (see for example Chete, 1998; Obadan, 2004; Oyeranti, 2003; Akinkugbe, 2003; Asiedu, 2002; Anyanwu, 1998; Dunning, 1994; Yauri, 2006), this study finds that the GDP, BOT, democratic government and government expenditure contributed immensely and were statistically significant in explaining the inflow of FDI in Nigeria over the period under review. Conversely, government policies and inflation exhibited inverse relationship with FDI and proved to be statistically insignificant to the observed growth in FDI over the period. The former can be justified, inter alia, by the increases in the level of economic activities including ICT. It can also be explained by some pragmatic economic reforms undertaken in the banking sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is gradually winning back the confidence of investors. There is equally the issue of relative stable polity (government) beginning from 1999 as supported by the result of our regression analysis. Government during the period under study took stringent steps at removing trade barriers by consummating the privatization and commercialisation policies as enshrined in the SAP-project. 5. Conclusion and Recommendations In this study, we have established that GDP as proxy for economic growth, government expenditure, BOT and democratic government had positive influences on FDI inflows. We have also demonstrated that inflation and government policies exhibited inverse relationships with FDI. The reasons for these two scenarios have also been highlighted. Admittedly, our findings corroborate the findings of previous studies as listed earlier. Based on our findings, we recommend that the present administration of President Jonathan must improve on the existing political climate as a matter of urgency and establish a conducive environment that is investment friendly which is devoid of arson, terrorism and bomb blast as is currently the case in the northern part of Nigeria if the country is to sustain and build on the present temple of enthusiasm and gains already achieved. Government must encourage and use appropriate policies to redirect the FDI inflows to the real sectors of the economy rather than the service and consumer goods subsectors as is the present case. It is only by so doing that Nigeria can accumulate capital formation and re-engineer the productive sector of the economy. Government needs to be more consistent with its policy formulation and execution as this has the potency and capacity to either increase or wane the level of confidence of would-be foreign investors. Finally, there is the need for government to diversify the economy, reinvigorate the non-oil export activities and undertake a comprehensive review of the on-going restructuring of investment policies of government so as to divesting and privatising PHCN, NNPC and many more of their type for efficiency and eliminate wastage in our public enterprises. References Ake, C. (1978), Revolutionary Pressures in Africa, Zed Press, London. Akinkugbe, O. (2003), Flow of Foreign Direct Investment to Hitherto Neglected Developing Countries, Wider Discussion Paper Vol. 2. Anyanwu, J. C. 1998), An Econometric Investigation of the Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria, (eds) Rekindling Investment for Economic Development in Nigeria, The Nigerian Economic Society’s Annual Conference Papers. Aremu, J. A. (2003), An Overview of Foreign Private Investment in Nigeria, in Nnanna, O. J. et al (eds) Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria, proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of th R egional Research Units of the Central Bank of Nigeria Asiedu, E. (2002), Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries: Is Africa Different? World Development, Vol. 30, No. 11. Chete, L. N. (1998), Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria: An Error Correlation Specification, Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies (NJESS), Vol. 40, No. 1, March. Deepak, M. et al (2001), Private Capital Flows and Growth, Finance and Development, World Bank Research observer, IMF Publications, June. Dunning, J. H. (1994), Re-evaluating the benefits of Foreign Direct Investment, Transnational Corporations, Vol. 3, No. 1, February. Feldstein, M. (2000), Aspects of Global Economic Integration: Outlook for the Future, NBER Working Paper Number 7899, National Bureau of Economic Research: Cambridge. Fry, E. H. (1983), The Politics of International Investment in Less Developed Countries, McGraw-Hill Book Company. Igudia, P. O. (1998), A Trend Analysis of Foreign Investment in Nigeria from 1975 to 1994, An unpublished MBA Dissertation of the University of Benin, Benin City. Loungani, P. and Razin, A. (2001), How Beneficial is Foreign Direct Investment for Developing Countries? Finance and Development, World Bank Research observer, IMF Publications, June. Obadan, M. I. (2004), Foreign Capital Flows and External Debt: Perspective on Nigeria and the LDCs Group, Broadway Press Limited Lagos. Obwona, M. B. (1997), Investment, Aid and Growth in Uganda, Economic Policy Research Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 2, September, pp 15 – 29. Odozi, V. A. (1995), An Overview of Foreign Investment in Nigeria: 1960 – 1995, CBN Research Department occasional paper, No 11, June 1. Oyeranti, O. A. (2003), Foreign Private Investment: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues, in Nnanna, O. J. et al (eds), Foreign Private Investment in Nigeria, Proceedings of the Twelveth Annual Conference on the Regional Research Unit, CBN Papanek, G. F. 1992), Aid, Foreign Private Investment, Savings and Growth in Less Developed Countries, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 81, No 2. Papanek, G. F. (1973), The Effects of Aid and other Resource Transfers on Savings and Growth in Less Developed Countries, Economic Journal, Vol. 82, No 2. , September. Razin, A. and Sadka, E. (2002), Labour, Capital and Finance: International flows, Cambridge university press, England. Saggi, K. (2002), Trade, Foreign Direct In vestment, and International Technology Transfer: A Survey, The World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp191-235 Tae-Hyon, C. 1995), Foreign Direct Investment in Korea: Recent Trends and Changes to Improve the Investment Environment, Korea Exchange Bank Quarterly, First Quarter. Voivodas, C. S. (1973), Exports, Foreign Capital and Economic Growth, Journal of International Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4. Wendt, H. (1993), Global Embrace, Harper Business, New York. World Bank (1996), World debt Tables: External Finance for Developing Countries, Vol. 1, Washington, D. C. Yauri, N. M. (2006), Foreign Direct Investment and Technology Transfer to Nigerian Manufacturing Firms – Evidence from Empirical Data, Economic and Financial Review, Central Bank of Nigeria, Vol. 4, No. 2, June. Yakub, M. U. (2005), Foreign Direct Investment (FDO) Flows to Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects, CBN Bullion Publication, Vol. 29, No. 4, Oct/Nov, pp54 64. Appendix 1 Factors used in the Regress ion Analysis of the Determinants of FDI in Nigeria Between 1970 2008 Year| FDI(#’ Million)/4| GDP(#’ Million)/3| Total Govt Expenditure(#’Million)/5| Inflation(annual Rate %)/2| BOT(#’ Million)/6| Demo Govt(Dummy)/7| Govt Policy(Dummy)/8| 1970| 1,003. 2| 4,219. 0| 903. 90| 13. 8| 46. 6| 0| 0| 1971| 1,322. 8| 4,715. 5| 997. 20| 16. 0| 117. 4| 0| 0| 1972| 1,571. | 4,892. 8| 1,463. 60| 3. 2| 57. 2| 0| 0| 1973| 1,763. 7| 5,310. 0| 1,529. 20| 5. 4| 197. 5| 0| 0| 1974| 1,812. 1| 15,919. 7| 2,740. 60| 13. 4| 3,102. 2| 0| 0| 1975| 2,287. 5| 27,172. 0| 5,942. 60| 33. 9| 157. 5| 0| 0| 1976| 2,339. 0| 29,146. 5| 7,856. 70| 21. 2| (339. 0)| 0| 0| 1977| 2,531. 4| 31,520. 3| 8,823. 80| 15. 4| (527. 2)| 0| 0| 1978| 2,863. 2| 29,212. 4| 8,000. 00| 16. 6| 1,293. 6| 0| 0| 1979| 3,153. 1| 29,948. 0| 7,406. 70| 11. 8| 1,868. 9| 1| 0| 1980| 3,620. 1| 31,546. 8| 14,968. 60| 9. 9| 2,402. 2| 1| 0| 1981| 3,757. 9| 205,222. 1| 11,413. 70| 20. | (3,020. 8)| 1| 0| 1982| 5,382. 8| 1 99,685. 3| 11,923. 20| 7. 7| (1,398. 3)| 1| 1| 1983| 5,949. 5| 185,598. 1| 9,635. 70| 23. 2| (301. 3)| 1| 1| 1984| 6,418. 3| 183,563. 0| 9,927. 60| 39. 6| 354. 9| 0| 1| 1985| 6,804. 0| 201,036. 3| 13,041. 10| 5. 5| 349. 1| 0| 1| 1986| 9,313. 6| 205,971. 4| 16,223. 70| 5. 4| (784. 3)| 0| 1| 1987| 9,993. 6| 204,806. 5| 22,018. 70| 10. 2| 159. 2| 0| 1| 1988| 11,339. 2| 219,875. 6| 27,749. 50| 38. 3| (2,294. 1)| 0| 1| 1989| 10,899. 6| 236,729. 6| 41,028. 10| 40. 9| 8,727. 8| 0| 1| 1990| 10,436. 1| 267,550. 0| 60,268. 20| 7. | 18,498. 2| 0| 1| 1991| 12,243. 5| 265379. 1| 66,584. 40| 13. 0| 5,959. 6| 0| 1| 1992| 20,512. 7| 271,365. 5| 92,797. 40| 44. 5| (65,271. 8)| 0| 1| 1993| 66,787. 0| 274,833. 3| 54,501. 80| 57. 2| 13,615. 9| 0| 1| 1994| 70,714. 6| 275,450. 6| 160,893. 20| 57. 0| (42,623. 3)| 0| 0| 1995| 119,391. 6| 281,407. 4| 248,768. 10| 72. 8| (195,316. 3)| 0| 0| 1996| 122,600. 9| 293,745. 4| 337,417. 60| 29. 3| (53,152. 0)| 0| 0| 1997| 128,331. 8| 302,022. 5| 428,215. 20| 8. 5| 1 ,076. 3| 0| 0| 1998| 152,409. 6| 310,890. 1| 487,113. 40| 10. 0| (220,675. 1)| 0| 0| 1999| 154,188. | 312,183. 5| 947,690. 00| 6. 6| (326,634. 3)| 1| 1| 2000| 157,535. 4| 329,178. 7| 701,050. 90| 6. 9| 314,139. 2| 1| 1| 2001| 162,343. 4| 356,994. 3| 1,017,996. 50| 18. 9| 24,738. 7| 1| 1| 2002| 166,631. 6| 433,203. 5| 1,018,178. 10| 12. 9| (565,353. 3)| 1| 1| 2003| 178,478. 0| 477,533. 0| 1,225,988. 30| 14. 0| (162,839. 7)| 1| 1| 2004| 249,220. 6| 527,576. 0| 1,384,000. 00| 15. 0| 1,128,379. 4| 1| 1| 2005| 269,844. 7| 561,931. 4| 1,743,200. 00| 17. 9| 1,364,845. 5| 1| 1| 2006| 302,843. 3| 595,821. 6| 1,842,587. 70| 8. 2| 2,406,340. 6| 1| 1| 2007| 364,008. 5| 634,251. | 2,348,593. 00| 5. 4| 2,379,064. 7| 1| 1| 2008/1| 397,395. 2| 674,889. 0| 3,078,300. 00| 11. 6| 3,482,276. 4| 1| 1| /1 = Provisional /2 = 1970-2005 extracted from National Bureau of Statistics 2006-2008 extracted from CBN Statistical Bulletin /3 = GDP at Current Basic Prices Sources:Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical B ulletin 2008 (50 Years Special Anniversary Edition) and National Bureau of Statistics,2006 Appendix 2: Results of the Regression Analysis of the Estimated Determinants of FDI in Nigeria from 1970 2008 Explanatory Variables| Equations | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| Constant| 23369| 55815. 2| 87710. 9| 14436. 1| 104738. 3| -11263. 5 | GDP| 0. 01789**| | | | | | BOT| | 0. 11295**| | | | | INF| | | -699. 785*| | | | GOVTEXP| | | | 0. 15665***| | | DEMGOVT| | | | | 112462. 3**| | GOVTPol| | | | | | 5350. 6*| R2 t-StatisticsD. W. Stat| 0. 885023. 476022056| 0. 496605. 95930. 20697| 0. 013769-0. 708950. 059708| 0. 9385123. 441010. 78725| 0. 030543. 973810. 096085| 0. 304. 90-0. 833540. 20895| Note: *** = Strongly statistically significant; ** = Statistically significant * = Statistically insignificant

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Example

Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Example Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Best Buy Case Study Essay Essay Best Buy is a transnational corporation with over 4. 000 locations countrywide. Circuit City was Best Buy’s merely chief competition for some old ages until it took over and ran Circuit City out of concern. Best Buy’s market portion increased after that nevertheless. other big retail merchants every bit good as e-tailers entered into the market. Amazon. Target. Wal-Mart and Apple became Best Buy’s new competition that caused a lessening in market gross revenues in 2010. They all had the same thing in common after the Circuit City prostration and that was to increase electronics. They all had their ain schemes to out-beat Best Buy. Although Best Buy acquired some more competition in a 2010 study consumers still said Best Buy is the first to come to mind when they think about purchasing electronics. However. even though Best Buy is the first that comes to mind against the other rivals. depending on what the merchandise is they will travel to Amazon to purchase it a lternatively. Due to their scheme which focuses on three countries ; customer-centricity. employment policies and sole stigmatization. they are maintaining up with the competition. Best Buy’s schemes may assist them a bulk of the clip but they could alter their schemes merely a small spot. They should seek what Wal-Mart does and monetary value lucifer ads with other shops so that manner they are still acquiring the net incomes and maintaining clients. In my sentiment. Best Buy could better their scheme when it comes to monetary values because they are on the higher terminal of monetary values. As a consumer myself. I do look at Best Buy foremost for my electronics but I normally go someplace else because the monetary values are normally cheaper. Other than their monetary values I really think their schemes are working out good for them and it shows in their rankings amongst other rivals. Consumer electronics is considered a mature industry because of the new tendencies. This industry hits record gross revenues during the vacation seasons but still says instead good throughout the twelvemonth every bit good. All companies associated with this industry attempt to maintain up so they make their ain merchandises. However. due to industries cannibalising their merchandises their merchandise life rhythm has decreased. Industries started making this to seek to maintain their consumers trueness. When monetary values start to fall for engineering merchandises this opens a bigger demographic ; nevertheless by clip the monetary values autumn for the merchandises they have come up with better merchandises. In order to recapture the growing of Best Buy they should seek to repair the monetary values to suit a bigger demographic. I think if they at least attempt to work with the consumers with the monetary values they would derive more clients. The job is the fact that consumers go elsewhere when they see the monetary values and do a monetary value lucifer. Amazon became popular with electronics because people found out that they could acquire electronics of all sorts online. Besides Amazon has an advantage over Best Buy because with Amazon there is free transporting on merchandises. good on most merchandises. I think if Best Buy tried to accommodate some of Amazon’s scheme they can out crush them in the electronics section. If they could be like Amazon and have a illimitable stock list online instead than merely hold their sum of handiness on the salesroom. If they did this I think they would see growing in their company. They pride their egos in holding the most well-thought-of name trade names in the consumer electronics industry so if they matched the monetary values with their pride in their trade names I see a definite growing in their company. With Best Buy being a well-known company and is the first that comes to mind when speaking about electr onics. if they had a bigger pick when it came to the merchandises than they might derive some more growing every bit good to travel along with their already loyal client base. At Best Buy. they offer a choice of energy-efficient merchandises. These merchandises were designed to assist their clients around the universe salvage some more money by utilizing less energy. I think with Best Buy going more sustainable they are more able to keep the involvement of the stakeholders. With these merchandises the stockholders play a large function in act uponing their overall sustainability scheme. The stakeholders help with patterning Best Buy’s one-year sustainability studies. So with them adding this scheme and leting the stakeholders to acquire the opportunity to hold a portion in the scheme they are deriving their involvement. Best Buy really takes the recommendations from their stakeholders and they try to pass on with them in attempts to maintain their involvement in their determination to integrate a sustainability scheme. I think this was a good move on their portion because it states they were unsure about Mr. Dunn’s five twelvemonth growing sc heme. The stakeholders were worried about Best Buy’s hard currency place and about if these schemes would work or non. Anytime when stakeholders have the chance to hold a so in a company is a good thing. In decision. I believe Best Buy is a great company but can go a better one if they were to make some alterations with their schemes. With the invariably altering economic system they need to accommodate their schemes to the alterations. I’m non stating they would hold to ever alter their schemes but I think they should ever seek their best to do their schemes fit the clients every bit good as aid the success of the company. With that being said I believe they will have even better consequences for the company every bit good as the consumers.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Trade Unions essays

Trade Unions essays A trade union is an independant self-regulating organization of workers created to protect and advance the interests of its members through collective action. Over recent years, it has become fashionable in many quarters to write off Britains trade unions, to label them as obsolete institutions out of touch with new realities and incapable of change. In todays world of individual employment contracts, performance-related pay schemes, Human Resource and Total Quality Management and all the other ingredients of the so-called new workplace, trade unions are often regarded as anachronistic obstacles preventing success of the market economy. As collective voluntary organizations that represent employees in the workplace, it is argued, trade unions no longer serve a useful purpose. The main priority of this essay is to represent the arguments for and against the relevance of trade unions in todays working society. Furthermore, I shall comment on the future of the trade union movement, based upon the facts and findings that helped construct this text. Trade unions exist because an individual worker has very little power to influence decisions that are made about his or her job. The greatest advantage in joining a trade union is because, by doing so, individuals possess more chance of having a voice and influence in their place of work. By joining forces with other workers, an individuals opinions and beliefs regarding their job will also be voiced by other union members, thus creating a stronger stance against management, if needed. Therefore, the main purpose of a trade union is to protect and improve people's pay and conditions of employment. This objective is usually achieved through negotiation and representation. Negotiation is where union representatives discuss with management, issues which affect people working in an organization. The union find...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

English - Essay Example The conditions that shaped the plays of Sophocles shall also be looked into. These shall enable an exploration of the main concern of this paper, which is to examine the role of the agency of the tragic protagonists of these plays, Othello and Oedipus, in their own downfall. This shall include a reference to the ideas of free will and predetermination, a debate that had great political, intellectual and religious value during the Renaissance. How this contrasts with the pre-Christian world of Sophocles shall be looked into and these issues shall be incorporated into the main thesis of the paper. The paper shall thus, attempt a comparison of the two plays, Othello and Oedipus, by examining the social, cultural and political situations that shaped these plays. This paper shall thus, place both these plays in their contexts and try to analyze how the concept of tragedy as propounded by Aristotle undergoes a change in the intervening time-period. Othello and Oedipus: Agency and Fate Othe llo and Oedipus are two of the most famous characters in the history of tragedy. Timeless in their appeal, these two tragic heroes are as similar as they are different. In a sense, Othello represents the evolution of the tragic hero from a world-order that gave precedence to fate over the will of man, to one where he undergoes a fall as a result of his own actions. This signals a transition to a world-order where man is considered to be the supreme being, one where he is considered a being who is able to create his own destiny. Oedipus is considered to be the most perfect tragedy that has ever been written. In fact, it is by citing this play that Aristotle explains his theories regarding tragedy as a form of drama. Peripeteia, the tragic revelation that the tragic hero experiences at the climax of the play that sends him hurtling to his doom, is explained by Aristotle using examples from Oedipus, where he describes it as â€Å"a change from ignorance to knowledge, and thus to eithe r love or hate, in the personages marked for good or evil fortune† (Aristotle 30). Peripeteia for Oedipus is preceded by inaction, an inaction that stems from an inability to change his fate. This is evident from the predictions that the oracle makes. As Harold Bloom points out, it is significant that the oracle does not merely predict that Oedipus would commit some heinous crime but specifies every detail of it. Harold Bloom warns against readings that see Oedipus as a free man, since that entails a neglect of the oracle’s warnings, which form a very important part of the plot of the play (Bloom 141). The oracle stands for the religious forces that controlled, and were controlled by fate. For Aristotle, these forces represent the â€Å"good or evil fortune† that he talks about in The Poetics. Fate for Oedipus represents a course of action that he cannot avoid, as is seen from the events in the play, where significantly, none of his actions have as a direct conse quence the murder of his father, or incest. Oedipus's knowledge of the prophecy of the oracle too cannot mitigate the misery that fate holds in store for him. Ironically, it is the knowledge of the prophecy that leads Oedipus towards the land of his birth. Throughout the story of Oedipus, we see him being willed towards the ultimate outcome of the play without his knowledge of

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Ontology and the Morality of Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ontology and the Morality of Abortion - Essay Example It seems everyone has a view on this issue and all seem to want to have their say. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the human race has strong ties to its origins so in answering the question of if humans were once fetuses; many feel the answer to when life begins will also be uncovered. After researching the ontological issue of was a human being ever a fetus and the moral issue of what the arguments are for the various position on abortion: anti-abortion, moderate and strong, the question of the morality of abortion should become clear. Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality. It is through ontology that the primary focus on the debate of abortion becomes the answer of one simple question, was a human being ever a fetus? Two of the most famous philosophers to debate this issue are Erin T. Olson and Lynne Rudder Baker. Their primary debate focuses on whether we are a person, or whether we are essentially persons. Baker takes on the view th at we are all essentially persons. The term person, as he defines it, is as a being capable of rational and moral activity. In this he argues that we could never have been something that was not a person, such as a fetus. He then takes this idea step further in saying that since only persons are moral agents and as a result have rights, no abortion ever has nor ever will violate any rights since non-persons, in this case fetuses, do not have any. This debate, though it seems logical, can hold many horrendous implications. If, in society, we view only those who are capable of rational and moral activity, as persons and therefore the only ones to have rights, many others besides the fetus could be excluded. Take for instance a man in a comma. In the comma state the man does not have the ability of ration or moral activity; he is in a sense a vegetable, same as a fetus. So according to this theory if he was an inconvenience then the plug could be pulled and it would be okay to let him die because he is not essentially a person. A new born, according to this theory, could also be deemed incapable of rational and moral activity, so in essence it is yet to be essentially a person, so therefore has no rights and if one so choose could be done away with. Another example would be a mentally handicap person, in many severe cases, the mentally handicap are incapable of rational and moral activity, therefore are they not considered essentially persons with rights. It seems that saying that only those with rational and moral activity are essentially persons and therefore have rights is a dangerous road to travel. Olson, however, takes on the view that we are not all essentially persons, but that each of us is essentially a member of the species, Homo sapiens, in short, an animal, a biological kind. He says that the properties of personhood are acquired by humans at some stage in their biological career, just like we acquire other properties like being a student, a mother, so on. So with this view all humans were once a fetus. If all human kind therefore was once a fetus, in the debate of abortion it would be wrong to kill or abort a human, despite what state it is in. This argument makes more logical sense as

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Compare & Contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Compare & Contrast - Essay Example Firstly, the film â€Å"The Secret Life of Grain†, represents what many filmmakers might see as an overly chauvinistic view of the world. However, it must also be understood that the culture that exists within the Maghreb is inherently patriarchal and the family associations and expectations that are represented within the film in question are not meant to cause any level of disrespect for anti-feminism. As such, the filmmaker reveals a world in which strict in gender norms determine what actions the men and the women will undertake (Scott 1). For instance, as it becomes clear that the couscous has been lost, it is the expectation that the men of the family must engage in a frantic and desperate rush to locate it. However, when their efforts fail, the gender expectation that is represented within the film is that it is ultimately the job of the women to solve the situation, re-cook the couscous, and utilize male sexual energy as a distraction for what is taking place behind th e scenes. Furthermore, the representation of class is one in which the viewer comes to the realization that the moneyed aristocracy/bureaucracy is the only mechanism through which the average societal stakeholder can hope to get ahead. As a direct result of this realization and portrayal, the protagonists of the film find it necessary to ingratiate themselves with these individuals as a means of pursuing this dream. Interestingly, the second film that will be discussed within this comparison and contrast, â€Å"All about My Mother†, represents a differential between those individuals that live within the provinces and those that live within Madrid. Furthermore, whereas it has been assumed that individuals who live in the big city are necessarily more liberal and open-minded than those who lived within the provinces, a unique understanding of class and acceptance is provided within this film; whereby the individuals who live in Madrid are

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Laugh Of The Medusa Cultural Studies Essay

The Laugh Of The Medusa Cultural Studies Essay The main reason for choosing the above critics and their respective essays is that within feminist theories, Cixous often comes to be associated with French feminist psychoanalytic theorists like Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray. In addition both critical essays are concerned with writing the body. By the early eighties, feminists had advanced to a confrontational attack on male supremacy, advocating a complete overthrow of the biased (male) canon of literature. French feminists, like Helene Cixous and Luce Irigary claimed that women should have a greater consciousness of their bodies when writing, a thing which would create a more honest and appropriate style of openness, fragmentation and non-linearity. Both feminist critics seem to have similar agendas mixing radical analysis with Lacanian and Freudian theory in order to deconstruct patriarchal hegemony in the connected real, symbolic and imaginary orders. Hence their unorthodox prose, a reaction against and within a symbolic order complicit in domination. Cixous first reading of the essay The Laugh of the Medusa reveals like an impassioned call to action and a feminist manifesto in which women are urged à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾to write themselves out of the world men constructed for women. Using the first person, plural and imperative statements, Cixous urges women to put themselves the unthinkable/unthought into words (Putnam Tong, 1998). She pledges for the invention of a new insurgent writing that will allow women to deconstruct the discourse that regulates the phallocentric system. Therefore the purpose of the essay under analysis is to break up and destroy a type of men writing which has functioned as an instrument of patriarchal expression and which has become a locus where the repression of women has been for too long perpetuated. In the same line of thought, Irigary pledges in her essay This Sex Which Is Not One (1977) for promoting womens language which is viewed as far richer than mens language in that it does not follow only one thread. It is advanced the idea that womens writing is capable of constantly creating the other meaning (Irigary: 204) generating an incomprehensible multiplicity of meanings which are unable to remain immobilized, and therefore impossible to be included into patterns of sexuality and behavior imposed by the dominant patriarchal cultural and social norms. Writing and language become the main concepts of the essays under analysis and the centers around which all the other notions like feminine/masculine sexuality, identity, ideologies and power revolve. The concept of writing, most often hereafter referred to as à ©criture feminine is perceived as one important transformational tool if one is concerned with changing the social, cultural and political masculine economy. It is impardonable, as Cixous puts it that there has not yet been any writing that inscribes feminity (Cixous: 2042). Assuming that language is not a neutral medium it follows that writing is constituted in a discourse of relations social, political, and linguistic, and these relations are characterized in a masculine or feminine à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾economy. In this model, patterns of linearity and exclusion (patriarchal logic) require a strict hierarchical organization of (sexual) difference in discourse and give a grossly exaggerated view of the sexual opposition actually inherent to language. Sexual opposition has always been inclusive to writing and is thus incriminated, this being one reason for women never having the possibility to speak as writing has always favored men, it worked for mans profit to the point of reducing writing to his laws (Cixous: 2050). Irigarys critical vision is therefore in agreement with Cixous ideas in that both point in negative terms to womens underdeveloped condition which stems from their submission to an oppressive culture. To this oppression, the feminist critics oppose a type of consciousness raising appeal as the main political base which would presumably be able to counteract the so-called amputation of power (Irigary: 205). Also a re-vision of the previous historical and cultural activity is needed backed by the critical force of feminist tradition. Therefore the rupture from the phallocentric tradition is indispensable as a means of escape for women. Like male sexuality, masculine writing, which Cixous usually termed phallogocentric writing, is also ultimately boring and furthermore stamped with the official seal of social approval, masculine writing is too weighted down to move or change. Womens writing expressed a unique female consciousness, which was more discursive and conjunctive than the male one. Such consciousness was completely different, and had been unfavorably treated. Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex studied the ways in which legislators, priests, philosophers, writers and scientists have striven to show that the subordinate position of women is willed in heaven and advantageous on earth. Women had been induced the idea of inferiority and, although men theoretically supported equality, they would object its implementation. Cixous essay in an attempt to define à ©criture feminine which favors experience over language and a type of non-linear, cyclical flow, actually lists one condition as the main prerequisite for bringing about some mutations in human relations: to destroy the sexual oppositions, as well as the distinction between feminine/masculine writing (Cixous: 2046). Such thread which aims at destroying the artificial power and cultural constructs is also favored by Irigary who militates against the type of thinking based on sexism and disjunctive political discourses: the power of slaves (Irigary: 205) would eventually collapse the binary thought inherent to Western tradition and would undo the logocentric ideology and proclaim woman as the source of life, power and energy. In doing this, one would necessarily destroy the phallocratic ideology which has been responsible for the symbolic annihilation of women (Tuchman, 1978). This annihilation serves to confirm that the roles of wife, mother and housewife, etc., are the fate of women in a patriarchal society. Women have been socialized into performing these roles by cultural representations that attempt to make them appear to be the natural prerogative of women. Furthermore, within the context of mass media, men and women have been represented in conformity with the cultural stereotypes that serve to reproduce traditional sex roles. Thus men are usually shown as being dominant, active, aggressive and authoritative, performing a variety of important and varied roles that often requires professionalism, efficiency, rationality and strength to be carried out successfully. Women by contrast are usually shown as being subordinate, passive, submissive and marginal, performing a limited number of secondary and uninteresting tasks confined to their sexuality, their emotions and their domesticity. The concern being voiced here is that this symbolic annihilation of women means that women, their lives and their interests are not being accurately reflected. Therefore, to Cixous, the practice of à ©criture fà ©minine is part of an ongoing concern with exclusion, with the transformation of subjectivity, and the struggle for identity. Moreover women in Western thought has represented the Other that can confirm mans identity as Self, as rational thinking being (Beauvoir, 1949). The concept of Self, she writes, can be produced only in opposition to that of not-self, so that the category of the Other is as primordial as consciousness itself. To constitute himself as Subject, man has constructed woman as Other: she is the incidental, the inessential as opposed to him, the Subject. Cixous voice acquires vehement tonalities militating for womens inscribing in language in a new articulation of feminine drives, libido and sex insinuating into texts as a means of liberation from their repressed sexuality and also as a means to changing the meaning of history: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Let the priests tremble, were going to show them our sexts (Cixous: 2048). Écriture fà ©minine could certainly prove itself extremely prodigious in its infinite and mobile complexity as opposed to masculine writing which is perceived as governed by the phallus, a type of super-egoized machinery which is synonymous with the history of reasoning separating body from the text and ultimately rejecting female-sexed texts. As a result of this policy of exclusion, the true potential of many women goes unfulfilled. The reason behind this policy of exclusion is the most blamed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡dogma of castration which Cixous finds responsible for the sublation of the phalologocentric, a self-admiring and self-congratulatory tradition which censors the body and implicitly the speech, Freuds concept of castration anxiety. Irigary suggests the same type of Freudian reading through her mentioning of mens foraging for a social status and recognition: head/man/phallus/symbol of power. Freud argued that this castration anxiety stems from a fear of female genitalia, perceived by males at a subconscious level as the result of castration the female body understood subconsciously as lacking a phallus. Freud suggested that the mythical story of Medusa, in which people turn to stone when they look at the snake-covered head of the Gorgon, could be read as addressing this psychoanalytic fear. It follows that Cixous and Irigary argue, following many theorists, that this masculine view of women as lacking has broader social and political implications; our sexuality and the language in which we communicate are inextricably linked. To free one means freedom for the other. To write from ones body is to flee reality, to escape hierarchical bonds and thereby come closer to what Cixous calls joissance, which can be defined as a virtually metaphysical fulfilment of desire that goes far beyond [mere] satisfaction [It is a] fusion of the erotic, the mystical, and the political (Gilbert: xvii). Cixous definition of jouissance is that which operates outside of patriarchy, in the realm of the feminine Imaginary and is a crucial concept since it is the source of womens writing and of breaking the Law of the Father. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The Laugh of the Medusa and This Sex Which Is Not One also draw on the writings of Ferdinand de Saussure and Jacques Lacan displaying an interest in connecting language, psyche and sexuality. Lacans theory develops the notion of the development of the (male) ego from Pre-Oedipal (non-linguistic) Imaginary to Symbolic via the castration complex which is both a sexual and linguistic model. The Imaginary is fashioned as a feminine space (connected to the body, the mother, the breast). The Symbolic is associated with the Law of the Father and is a condition of having acquired language and sexual difference. The current essays seem to reject the feminine Imaginary which is non-signifying or outside of language. In order to express her opposition, Cixous uses Doras case of aphonia which is considered to be the true à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡mistress of the Signifier, replacing the phallus as the privileged Signifier from Lacans theory. Dora, the misunderstood hysterical woman, like Medusa, could be read as a mythological figure, examples of women who speak their body and threaten patriarchy. They have the capacity to continue to interrogate and ultimately to deconstruct the Law of the Father. Doras words coming to us in twisted form rebel against the master/author of her story giving access to immense resources of the unconscious, de-censoring body and speech. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The Laugh of the Medusa, therefore, revises the Freudian model which defines woman as lack, once again alluding to the Law of the Father which is ruled by the fear of castration, and instead celebrates woman as excess. The fear of decapitation or castration should no longer be perceived as a threat at least for women. They always had the capacity to depropriate themselves. Woman is a whole that is made up of parts that in themselves are whole: She is indefinitely other in herself (Irigary: 204). Woman is also perceived as extremely complex and subtle in the geography of her pleasure which would be able to generate a connection between womens bodies and the making of meaning in a continuous play of signifier which would disrupt the symbolic former order of language. A similar standpoint is made by Cixous who states that this endless body has no end or parts, thus woman libido is cosmic (Cixous: 2051). Woman does not perform the regionalization on herself as masculine sexuality does, her Eros is not organized around any one sun, is not centralized, therefore woman language is not a solid opaque block, but a flow which displays meaning into a multiplicity of signifiers without contours or frontiers; woman is changeable and open, a cosmos tirelessly traversed by Eros (Cixous: 2051) which lacks repressive patterning and rejects logocentrism, or phallogocentrism. Thus it is suggested that the feminine writing is a way of signifying that calls into question or disrupts the Law of the Father because it will give access to women native strength and sexuality and un-coax conventions. Along with this rupture there comes a dislocation of language. In addition, womens writing is also described in terms of childbirth; a metaphor for the vast resources of feminine creativity. By extension, womens writing is described using imagery such as the mothers voice/body/milk: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾write in white ink (Cixous: 2045), therefore a desired return to the pre-Oedipal stage where binaries were absent. Drawing on the resources of the Imaginary, mining its depths, women are urged in both above-mentioned essays to invent another history, one which is outside of narratives of power, inequality and oppression, and which figures itself in our language and on our bodies. The upheaval of these transformations is made possible through the process of collapsing the binary oppositions in which à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡woman has functioned as a negative term, always referring back to its opposite pair which annihilated its energy and causing woman to function within the discourse of man. Therefore a return to Pre-Oedipal stage is suggested, a return to a time before the creation of oppositional binaries prior to the imposition of the categories of male and female. This is the period associated with the mothers body. In this way, Cixous notion of feminine writing can be both feminine and non-essentialist, although this latter assertion is a matter of considerable debate amongst Cixous critics. Therefore the oppositions do not limit themselves to the traditional antagony male/female, but extend beyond it to a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡logic of the One and a logic of heterogenity and multiplicity which suggest that it is high time the phallocentric tradition be replaced by an in finite richness of individual subjectivities. The body entering the text disrupts the masculine economy of superimposed linearity: the feminine is the overflow of luminous torrents, a margin of excess eroticism and free-play not directly attributable to the fixed hierarchies of masculinity. Hierarchical structures are shaken and subjective differences are encouraged so that à ©criture fà ©minine could emerge as a way of overcoming the limits of Western logocentrism: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Almost everything is yet to be written by women about feminity, sexuality, infinite and mobile complexity (Cixous: 2049). The new feminine language, which yet needs to be invented, would be able to collapse partitions, classes and code à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡sweeping away syntax. At the end of the phallic era, women are envisaged as having two possible alternatives: they either give up any aspiration and become annihilated, or raise against their submissive and passive role to reach their full à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡incandescence. Writing becomes therefore the main imperative for women. They are asked to think differently, to leave behind the psychoanalytic labels and laws of the signifier which would only alter the generative powers of feminine writing: In one another we will never be lacking (Cixous: 2056). Therefore writing is the passageway, entrance, exit, and dwelling of the other. For man this non-exclusion is seen as a threat, as intolerable. Feminine writing keeps alive the other, as love is not perceived in economic terms any longer.