Individual project Drugs Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual project Drugs Abuse - Essay Example The psychological reasons for drug addiction might include the notion that some people want to find the state of unconsciousness in order not to think about current problems, some drug addicts started using drugs for medical purposes and reached the condition of not being able to control their desires (this type of addiction is neither sociological not psychological), some people, both youth and adults, use the drugs because they are able to change the way the person feels (it is especially common when the person does not want to have that feeling), some of the artists are heavy drug addicts because they believe that drugs are able to cause the creative process. In my opinion, the sociological and psychological causes of drug addiction are interrelated and cannot be perceived separately. For example, the young man from the poor district, whose friends are all drug addicts and spent their time robbing and stealing from others in order to get some money to buy more drugs is very likely to become drug addicts as well. Both sociological and psychological causes are present here: sociological are poverty, absence of employment, peer pressure, the unawareness about how to live differently; the psychological are undesired to be different, â€Å"everybody around does it why should I be different†, â€Å"I want to be one of them† and similar thoughts. Thus, both explanations supplement each other. For example, some of the drug addictions are caused by the social forums when some of the rituals include chemical use to evoke the â€Å"happy moments† and some of the religions incorporate the usage of the mind-altering chemicals. The drugs can heighten the desires and give the false sense of power and fearlessness. Thus, people who are really shy in the normal life can become very aggressive when addicted to drugs. Drugs show the bad side of the human soul and create the perfect condition for criminal

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 70

Assignment Example It is not true that cabbage is cheaply made and is of low quality. Red wine and beef steak are complimentary goods. The goods complement each other. A complementary good is one whose cross elasticity of demand is negative. That is, the demand of a complementary good will increase if the price of another good decreases. Similarly, the demand of a complementary good falls when the price of another good is increased. As such, because red wine and beef steak are complimentary goods (are consumed together), an increase in the price of red wine will discourage people from buying beef steak and thus a fall in demand for beef steak. Red wine has a negative cross elasticity of demand with respect to beef steak. The sales of generic frozen orange juice soared during recession because it is an inferior good. Inferior goods are those that provide an alternative for consumers to reducing their expenditure during harsh economic times. The demand for inferior goods soars with a decrease in the level of disposable income. On the other hand, the sales of freshly squeezed orange juice declined because it is a normal good. The demand for normal goods falls with a fall in income level. As such, during 2007/2008 recession, people turned to generic frozen orange juice to cut their expenditure and thus high sales recorded. On the other hand, the number of people buying freshly squeezed orange juice declined as their disposable income fell. At point A, change in price produces equal change in quantity demanded and hence elastic. At point B, the demand is probably inelastic because a change in price yields less percentage change in quantity demanded. The firm’s products have elastic demand. For goods with elastic demand, a small change in price will cause a big change in quantity demanded. Therefore, every time the firm increased the price, it Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 185 Assignment Example Joycelyn’s objective of career development has been key to her high performance and provision of a worker friendly environment has enabled her to achieve a lot in her career (Mondy, Noe, & Gowan, 2005). Joycelyn has no longer taken human resource as a an administrative duty but as a responsibility to ensure that workers feel that their place of work as the right place to spend time due to the conditions that are provided by the employer. Worker motivation is a major driver to any institution that would want to get the maximum of the employees’ capability. A motivated worker has all his/her welfare well taken care of and it trickles down to the human resource to ensure that they motivate workers by providing them with essential services such as schools for their children, insurance covers etc and rewarding them fairly for the work they have done (Mondy, Noe, & Gowan, 2005). Madam Joycelyn success has come as a result of combination of various factors the work together and is geared towards the workers

Literature Review of Finance and Share Price

Literature Review of Finance and Share Price LITERATURE REVIEW This study relates to examine the relationship of cash flow from operations, earning and sales with share price and the previous research has predicted the comparative abilities of cash flow, earning and sales but this study is only concerned with the relationship of cash flow, earning and sales with share price. In the finance literature that market forces determine share price equal to the discounted value of a stream of expected future cash flows (Hollister et al., 2002). Cash flows represent amounts investors expect to receive in the form of dividend payments or from the sale of their shares and not necessarily the annual operating cash flows generated by a firm. Consequently, it is in a very broad sense that share price is considered to embody a firms future cash flows. Even if share price is often thought of and evaluated in terms of cash flows, earnings is also known to be extremely important to managers and analysts because of the key information it conveys about future prospects (Brigham and Ehrhardt, 2002). Various researchers examined value in terms of share return that Earnings reflect a stronger correlation with share return than does current operating cash flows (Watts, 1977; Dechow, 1994; Bartov et al, 1997) .It has been shown that earnings better predicts future operating cash flows than does current operating cash flows because accruals in earnings â€Å"offset the negative correlation in cash flow changes to produce earnings changes that are much less negatively serially correlated ( Dechow, et al 1998) that is why earnings, rather than current operating cash flows, tends to be used in firm share valuations. Earnings quality can be affected by sales volatility (Dechow and Dichev (2002) and Francis et al. (2004). By and large the greater the sales volatility, the more unstable is the operating environment. This results in larger estimation errors for accruals and diminished earnings quality. It gives an idea about how monthly sales announcements of major department and discount stores provide information for investors not only for the retail giants but also for their suppliers (Olsen and Dietrich (1985). The sales volume announcements for the retailers furnish information on the future cash flow prospects for their suppliers and, thus, are incorporated into the suppliers share prices. Dharan (1987) examined the comparative abilities of accrual sales and cash collections of sales to predict future cash flows. It is found that when cash realization occurs in a period subsequent to sales realization, cash flow forecasts from earnings based on accrual sales are better than cash flow forecasts from earnings based on cash collections. This is because of accrual sales â€Å"provides information on managements expectations about future cash flows (Dharan, 1987). Greenberg, Johnson, and Ramesh (1986) used 1963-82 compustate data to test the ability of earnings and CFFO to predict future CFFO, for each firm two separate ordinary least squares regression models were used. The first model test used previous earnings against current CFFO (earnings model) the second model used CFFO for lags of 1-5 years against current CFFO (cash flows model).R square for the earnings and cash flows model were compared and the model with the higher R square was determined to be the better predictor. The results showed that earnings outperformed CFFO in predicting future CFFO. It was concluded that the study provides evidence in support of the FASBs assertions that current earnings is a better predictor of future cash flows than is current cash flows. Juan M. Rivara(1996) found out the accuracy and the consensus among forecasters of earnings estimates for U.S. domestic and U.S. multinational corporations, it was observed that the accuracy of earnings forecasts is significantly lower for purely domestic firms than for U.S based multinationals. Like wise the level of consensus in earnings estimates submitted by financial analysts is significantly lower for U.S. domestic than for U.S. multinational firms. The accounting profession requires that firms disaggregate net income into specific components, even though earnings disaggregation is important for assessing firm profitability, there is little empirical evidence that the classification scheme actually improves profitability forecasts by analyzing the accuracy improvements in out-of-sample forecasts of one-year ahead return-on-equity (ROE) to examine the predictive content of earnings disaggregations (Fairfield, Sweeney, Yohn) .The results show that the classification scheme prescribed by the accounting profession does increase the predictive content of reported earnings. It was found forecasting improvements from earnings disaggregation. These improvements go beyond separating extraordinary items and discontinued operations from the other components of earnings. Further disaggregation of earnings (into operating earnings, non-operating earnings and taxes, and special items) improves forecasts of ROE one year ahead. (Ball and Watts (1972), Albrecht, Lookabill McKeown (1977), Watts and Leftwich (1977) and Lev (1983) studied the Earnings ability to predict future earnings studied first or second order autocorrelations and or forecasts over one or two-year horizons and provided evidence to support a random walk model that is uncorrelated earnings changes, However, random walk may not be descriptive of the earnings process Where as Ramesh and Thiagarajan (1989) rejected a random walk earnings model and Lipe and Kormendi (1993) show that higher order, rather than random walk, models are descriptive of market-adjusted earnings time-series process. Finger (1994) found out the earnings ability to predict future earnings and future cash flow from operations1 one through eight years ahead using annual data from1935-87 for 50 firms. I use time-series methods to test firm-specific predictive ability over the entire time period (hereafter in-sample regression tests) and then compare out-of-sample forecast errors to assess earnings ability to improve earnings or cash flow forecasts up to eight years ahead. He found that earnings are a significant predictor of future earnings, in sample, for 88% of the firms. The random walk provides better out-of-sample forecasts than do individually estimated models one year ahead for 52% of the sample firms, Out of sample forecasts show that random walk models outperform individually estimated earnings models for one-year but not for four- or eight-year horizons. Earnings, used alone and with cash flow, are a significant predictor of cash flow for the majority of firms. However, out-of-sample foreca sts show that adding earnings rarely improves cash flow forecasts. Cash flow is a better short-term predictor of cash flow than are earnings, both in and out of sample, and the two are approximately equivalent long-term. The nature of the information contained in the accrual and cash flow components of earnings and the extent to which this information is reflected in stock prices Sloan (1996). It is found that earning performance attributable to the accrual component of earnings exhibits lower persistence than earnings performance attributable to the cash flow component of earnings, hence results also indicated that stock prices act as if investors fixate on earnings, failing to distinguish fully between the different properties of the accrual and cash flow components of earnings. Lorek Willinger (1996) the time series properties and predictive abilities of cash flow data. Results indicate that this model clearly outperforms firm-specific and common-structure ARIMA models as well as a multivariate, cross-sectional regression model popularized in the literature. These findings are robust across alternative cash-flow metrics (e.g., levels, per-share, and deflated by total assets) and are consistent with the viewpoint espoused by the FASB that cash-flow prediction is enhanced by consideration of earnings and accrual accounting data. Bowen, Burgstahler Daley (1986) examined relationships between signals provided by accrual earnings and various measures of cash flow, Findings indicate that Correlations between traditional cash flow measures and alternative CF measures that incorporate more extensive adjustments are low, 2nd the correlations between alternative measures of CF and earnings are, while the correlations between traditional measures of CF and earnings are high. These first two results are consistent with earnings and alternative measures of CF that incorporate more extensive adjustments conveying different signals. Finally, for four out of five cash flow variables, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that random walk models predict CF as well as (and often better than) models based on other flow variables. An exception to this general result is that net income plus depreciation and amortization and working capital from operations appear to be the best predictors of cash flow from operations. Overall there results are not consistent with the FASBs statements that earnings numbers provide better forecasts of future cash flows than do cash flow numbers. Earlier additional information content of cash flows relies primarily on cross- sectional regression models relating both earnings and cash flows to security return metrics that assumes a uniform relation between earnings (cash flow from operations) and security returns across observations. Ali (1994) however, conditions the incremental information content of unexpected earnings and cash flows from operations on their magnitude with respect to price. It is found that changes in earnings (cash flows from operations) are not expected to persist and thus have reduced implications for returns. Cheng, Liu Schaefer (1996) investigated the Earnings Permanence and the Incremental Information Content of Cash Flows from Operations, findings suggest that the incremental information content of accounting earnings decreases, and the incremental information content of cash flows from operations increases, with a decrease in the permanence of earnings. Barth, Cram Nelson investigated the role of accruals in predicting future cash flows and findings proved that disaggregating earnings into cash flow and the major components of accruals significantly enhances earnings predictive ability, findings also showed relation between cash flow next year and current cash flow and each component of accruals is significant and has a sign consistent with prediction. One of two researchers has re examined the association between earnings forecast error and earnings predictability because there is evidence suggesting that deliberate earnings forecast optimism is not an effective mechanism for gaining access to managers information ( Eames et al. 2002; Matsumoto 2002) ,For earnings level to be an important control variable in examinations of the association between forecast error and earnings predictability, there must be associations between earnings level and both forecast error and earnings predictability. Numerous studies report an inverse relation between forecast error and the level of reported earnings ( Brown 2001; Eames et al. 2002; Eames and Glover 2002; Hwang et al. 1996). The association reflects both earnings shocks due to unanticipated events and earnings management. Dechow Dichev suggested a new measure of one aspect of the quality of working capital accruals and earnings, they illustrated the usefulness of analysis in two ways. First, they examined the relation between measure of accrual quality and firm characteristics. The nature of the accrual process suggests that the magnitude of estimation errors will be systematically related to business fundamentals like the length of the operating cycle and variability of operations. It was found that accrual quality is negatively related to the absolute magnitude of accruals, the length of the operating cycle, loss incidence, and the standard deviation of sales, cash flows, accruals, and earnings, and positively related to firm size. Results suggest that these observable firm characteristics can be used as instruments for accrual quality. This is important because the regression based estimation of accrual quality demands long time series of data and the availability of subsequent cash flows, which m akes it costly or infeasible for certain practical applications (e.g quality-of-accruals-based trading strategies). Second they illustrated the usefulness of analysis by exploring the relation between measure of accrual quality and earnings persistence. Firms with low accrual quality have more accruals that are unrelated to cash flow realizations, and so have more noise and less persistence in their earnings. Indeed, they find a strong positive relation between accrual quality and earnings persistence. Although the measure of accrual quality is theoretically and empirically related to the absolute magnitude of accruals, and Sloan (1996) documents that the level of accruals is less persistent than cash flows. Probing further, they found out that accrual quality and level of accruals are incremental to each other in explaining earnings persistence, with accrual quality the more powerful determinant. There are two widely held views regarding managements motivations to managing earnings and each has quite different implications for the predictive usefulness of the resultant numbers .One view is that earnings management is motivated by mangers attempt to sustain the overvaluation of the firms stock price and to enhance managers personal welfare by disguising the true underlying economic performance of the firm (opportunistic perspective). An alternative view is that managers manage earnings to reveal private value-relevant information about the future prospects of a firm (informational perspective). They shown that originally reported (managed) earnings of firms classified as managing earnings for opportunistic reasons are less predictive of future cash flows relative to the restated (unmanaged) numbers. Conversely, they find that originally reported (managed) earnings of firms classified as managing earnings for informational reasons exhibit greater predictive ability with respect to future cash flows relative to restated (unmanaged) numbers. (Badertscher , Collins and lys 2007). Theoretical and empirical work in accounting and finance has documented the importance of firm size when testing the information in security prices with respect to future earnings (Collins et al., 1987) and interested in assessing the information in security prices with respect to the predictive ability of earnings, their finding that price-based-earnings forecasts outperform time-series forecasts by a greater margin for larger firms than smaller firms is of direct interest here. Their result implies that firm-size may help to explain inter-firm differences in the predictive ability of quarterly earnings data and helps to motivate the consideration of firm-size as an independent variable in the current study. Foster et al (1984) report that firm-size independently explains a substantial portion of the variation in post announcement drifts in security returns due to potentially misspecified quarterly earnings expectation models. The magnitude of abnormal returns associated with good or bad news earnings signals is inversely related to firm-size Freeman (1987), speculates that these findings might simply be due to differential time-series properties of the earnings numbers of large and small firms-an uncontrolled factor in his research design-and calls for future research to examine the possibility. Bathke , Lorek Willinger ( 1989) found out differences in the auto regressive parameters of the Foster and Brown and Rozeff ARIMA models across firm-size strata . One-step-ahead quarterly earnings forecasts were generated by a set of best fitting time-series models. Their Tests also indicated that large and medium size firms generated one-step ahead forecasts that were significantly more accurate than smaller firms at the .05 level and they obtained similar predictive findings on the significance of the size-effect in a supplementary analysis of the non seasonal and volatile growth and inconsistent strata membership firms. ChengDana examined the persistence of cash flow components in predicting future cash and the findings were that the cash flow components from various operating activities persist differentially. They found out that the cash related to sales, cost of goods sold, operating expenses and interest persists a great deal into future cash flows; cash related to other has lower persistence; and cash related to taxes has no persistence and then they incorporated accrual components into persistence regression model and found that the persistence of cash flow components are generally higher than those of accruals; however, accrual components do enhance model performance, their findings are consistent with the AICPAs and financial analysts rationale for their recommendation that the financial effects of a companys core and non-core cash flows should be distinguished. Reference Ashiq Ali â€Å" Incremental information content of earnings , working capital from operations and cash flow † Journal of Accounting research†( spring 1994): 61-74 Robert M. Bowen, David Burgstahler, Lane A. Daley â€Å"Evidence on the Relationships between Earnings and Various Measures of Cash Flow † The Accounting Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (Oct., 1986), pp. 713-725 Richard G. Sloan â€Å"Do Stock Prices Fully Reflect Information in Accruals and Cash Flows about Future Earnings† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 289-315. Kenneth S. Lorek and G. Lee Willinger â€Å"A Multivariate Time-Series Prediction Model for Cash-Flow Data† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 81-102 Catherine A. Finger â€Å"The Ability of Earnings to Predict Future Earnings and Cash Flow† Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 210-22 C. S. Agnes Cheng, Chao-Shin Liu, Thomas F. Schaefer â€Å"Earnings Permanence and the Incremental Information Content of Cash Flows from operations† Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 34, No. 1 ( Spring, 1996), pp. 173-181. Olsen, C. and J. Dietrich, Vertical Information Transfers: The Association Between Retailers Sales Announcements and Suppliers Security Returns, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 144-166, 1985. Juan M. Rivera (1996) â€Å" Prediction Performance of Earnings Forecasts: The Case of U.S. Multinationals.†Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 (2nd Qtr. 1991), pp. 265-288. Patricia M. Fairfield Richard J. Sweeney Teri Lombardi Yohn â€Å"Accounting classification and predictive content of earning† The Accounting Review, Vol. 71, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 337-355. BALL, R R.WATTS â€Å"Some Time Series Properties of Accounting Income† Journal of Finance (June 1972): 663-82 Mary E. Barth, Donald P. Cram, Karen K. Nelson â€Å"Accruals and the Prediction of Future Cash Flows †The Accounting Review, Vol. 76, No. 1 (Jan., 2001), pp. 27-58 Michael J. Eames and Steven M. Glover â€Å"Earnings Predictability and the Direction of Analysts Earnings Forecast Errors †Accounting Review, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 707-724. Patricia M. Dechow and Ilia D. Dichev â€Å"The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors †The Accounting Review, Vol. 77, Supplement: Quality of Earnings Conference (2002), pp. 35-59. Patricia M. Dechow and Ilia D. Dichev â€Å"The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors †The Accounting Review, Vol. 77, Supplement: Quality of Earnings Conference (2002), pp. 35-59. Brad Badertscher , Daniel W. Collins Thomas Z. Lys â€Å"Earnings Management and the Predictive Ability of Accruals with Respect to Future Cash Flows † Journal of finance, (2007) , PP 01-52. Allen W. Bathke, Jr., Kenneth S. Lorek, G. Lee Willinger â€Å"Firm-Size and the Predictive Ability of Quarterly Earnings Data † The Accounting Review, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 49-68 C. S. Agnes Cheng Dana Hollie (1996) â€Å"The Persistence of Cash Flow Components into Future Cash Flows† Journal of finance, pp 1-32.

Essay --

The literary movement during the 1980's in Britain was heavily influenced by the state of Britain's economy at the time. The people of Britain had become infatuated with politics due to the election of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to have held office. She was known as the â€Å"Iron lady† and the leader of the Conservative Party. Her influence on the British government with her use of Thatcherism did not leave behind a good legacy in the literature department. In a New York Times newspaper article, it is stated that, â€Å"The Thatcher years were a time of remarkable cultural ferment, in which the energies of an extraordinarily diverse roster of musicians, novelists, playwrights, critics and filmmakers — to say nothing of television comedians and puppeteers — were unleashed in opposition, glum and passionate, explicit and overt, to the prime minister herself,†(nytimes.com). Many literary figures have writ ten novels in response to the events of the society's cultural downfall in the 1980's. In Doris Lessing's, The Good Terrorist, which is set in the time period of Thatcherism, she portrays her character's thoughts on bourgeois liberalism as contradictions to their personalities. The main character, Alice Mellings, assumes that she is committing these acts of terrorism for a good reason. Alice and her band of revolutionary rejects are the manifestations of Doris Lessing's various frustrations against political advancements with feminism, communism, and Thatcherism. †¨ The political views and opinions that Doris Lessing's character accumulate in The Good Terrorist are most likely fueled by Lessing's real life experiences with communist parties and her unsatisfying life in the suburbs in Rho... ...ain. During the time of the 1980's in Britain, feminism, communism, and Thatcherism were big parts of the time period. These political advancements caused many literary responses to the downfall of the government that Margaret Thatcher ruled at the time. Lessing was a feminist but was not a feminist at the same time. In an article on dnaindia.com, it is stated that, â€Å"Lessing was able to do a great deal for women without subscribing to feminism; she did it with her life, and with (not just within) her writing,†(dnaindia). Unfortunately, not a lot of research has been done on The Good Terrorist, and it being a good fictional reference into the life of a group of squatters in 1980's Britain, Doris Lessing writes from her perspective on feminist criticism and explores her ideas, hoping to expand further into more of Lessing's works and explore the meanings behind them.

College stress

College stress BY JoshuaB662 classes, scheduling issues to coordinate, difficult tests and other academic obstacles, coupled with the more independent nature of the college learning structure, many new and returning students find themselves studying long, hard hours. Social Stress While college freshmen face the most obvious social challenges that usually involve leaving one's entire support structure behind, creating a new social network, dealing with being away from home for the first time and finding less parental support, most tudents face social stress.Finding and living with a roommate, balancing friends with school work (and often part-time Jobs), and dealing with the dynamics of young adult relationships can all be difficult, and these challenges can lead to significant stress. Other Stresses There are also many miscellaneous stresses that often come from college life. Many students keep crazy hours from staying up late to study, getting up early for classes, and trying to cr am in all the work and fun that can possibly fit. Often the logistics of iving more independently†from laundry to car insurance†can cause stress.New students deal with missing home and more seasoned students may wonder if they're in the right major. Most students struggle with who they are and where theyd like to be, at least at some point in their college career. The Impact of Stress What affect do these issues have on students? Just as everyone deals with stress in a unique way, college students experience a range of consequences from stress, from mild to severe. Here are some of the common effects of stress: Experience of StressOne of the most commonly felt consequences of college stress is a feeling of being overwhelmed. While trying to find a balance of how hard to work (and play), many college students struggle with perfectionism or unhealthy habits like heavy drinking. Weight Issues Partially because of stress and partially because of other social and practical is sues faced by college students, many struggle with their weight. Many gain 10-20 pounds around their first year (weight gain known as the Freshman 15), and others lose weight unintentionally, or struggle with eating disorders. Dropout Rate College Stress One important factor of college stress on students leading to suicide is academic linked issues in college. Firstly, college means higher education demanding for a number of assignments, tests and projects which is just sufficient for students to commit suicide particularly when exams are round the corner. Every semester has two or more quizzes, group assignments and case study for each subject which is worth so much Of marks that you don't want to lose it.Next, world has become very competitive so in order for one to shine in that world requires a lot of hardwood to make homeless different from others. Everyone is in the race of being the number ‘one'. In addition, students give up hope thinking that if they don't do well academically they are not worth anything, but they don't realize that living with hope motivates oneself to be somebody in life. It is very hard for one to adopt new environment, new responsibilities and to be exposed to the world of competition.There is a va st difference between school life and college life, for example, unlike college, secondary students are usually upon-fed by their class teachers that is everything given in hand by teachers whether its notes or any announcements. So to be able to adopt this environment is itself a challenge. Living with family means less responsibility on students' shoulders Some students stay away from their families means more responsibilities which sums up level of stress in college for example, mothers usually chase their children around for food but living in a hostel or without parents means prepare everything by themselves.Sometimes assignments really gets jammed up over the schedule that many students stay up late at night and study long hours and getting up early for classes. This is really traumatic. Depression is a very common form of stress among adolescents. It can be in a form of finance and life circumstances. Its one of the major reasons of the increasing number of suicides. Unlike s chools, college expenses are much higher which some parents can't afford, directly or indirectly it puts students under great pressure.Secondly, we often ear or experience that students might not be able to clear examinations therefore he/she may have to repeat that subject or even the entire semester which is really embarrassing and depressing. Having mentioned it earlier due to some financial situation or life circumstances, student may have fear of being dropout from the institution. Many students do not understand how great an impact this stress can have on their happiness and overall behavior. Suicide has now become a trend caused by college stress which many adolescents follow.

Role Of Effective Communication and Interpersonal Reaction

Effective communication is a big part of the various skills that are required by personnel within a health and social care setting and it is mainly to ensure that they are effective at meeting the needs of the numerous people who use the services that they help to provide. In order for them to develop effective communication skills, they will need to be aware of the use of communication theories. A wide range of communication theories are available in order to give support towards effective communication between personnel and the service users.Argyle is one of the theorists who studied the topic of effective communication within this particular setting. He produced theories on human communication and also interpersonal interaction. He looked at various aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication and was able to produce a communication cycle with his findings. The stages of Argyle’s communication cycle are as follows; an idea will occur and a message will in turn be coded, th is message will then be sent and received the message will then be decoded and understood by the receiver.The first stage is when we think about what exactly it is that we what to say and who we are going to say it too. Stage number two is when we plan on saying it. Stage Three is message received and occurs when a person hears what you have said. Stage number four is then decoding the received message. The fifth stage is when the message is fully understood by the receiver and when they are actually able to understand what you have been saying to them. As well as Argyle being quite an important figure with these studies, there was also another man who contributes just as much. He is known as Tuckman.Again, like Argyle, Tuckman's theory is carried out and defined with the use of numerous stages but also looks at the groups aspect of effective communication. Stage number one is known as Forming: This is an important stage of the theory as this is when the group members begin to learn more about each other becoming more friendly and comfortable within the group as a whole. The reason it would be seen as a rather important stage is because while people don’t necessarily know each other they will tend to behave more independently and not engage with the group setting that has been assigned to them.Step number two is referred to as Storming: Storming is required for the group to enable it to grow as a single unit and not as people working on their own behalf. Tuckman discovered that not all group will make past this stage and so it separates the strong from the weak. By the stage it is hoped that groups will have allocated a leader. Step number three is Norming: This is the stage that the group agree on the rules that they will follow together and the group will begin to gain a higher degree of trust with one another.

Honda vs Toyota essays

Honda vs Toyota essays Honda and Toyota have been two leading competitors in the automobile business for several decades. Both being rivals in the foreign Japanese market and in the United States as well. Over the years, both have created compact cars, sport utility vehicles, sports cars, minivans, mid-sized vans, and hybrids. These two companies have flourished in the American automobile industry and have gained the loyalty of many customers. Now a days, cars have to meet strict emission laws based on California criteria due to the high level of pollution. The government has even had to step into the industry making manufacturers produce cars with catalytic converters. Toyota and Honda have taken these aspects into affect by creating the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla. Honda has actually set the standard for the compact car, making the Civic one of the most U.L.E.V (Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles) in the industry. Toyota on the other hand has set the standard for the mid-sized vehicle with the Camry. Ev er since Toyota introduced the Camry sedan in 1983, it has become the best passenger car for the last four years in America. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Honda Civic and the Toyota Camry received the best overall ratings in each of their class. Thus, creating a tense competition in the automobile industry. In the past few years, consumers have demanded more and more cars that are not only affordable, but also fuel-efficient. This rise in demand is due to the changing factors in the taste of the buyers, the rise in population, the rise income, the rise in prices of substitutes, and the drop in the prices of complement products and services. Honda and Toyota have both made quite a sum of money by taking advantage of the opportunity of these rises in demand. These rises in demand have made sales in both companies double within the past decade. As times change, people and their tastes change as well. Every year, Honda and To...

Coral Ecosystem essays

Coral Ecosystem essays l reefs are one of natures most magnificent creations, filled with thousands of unique and valuable plants and animals. More than one quarter of all marine animals is dependent on coral reefs. Coral reefs are also a source of food and income for millions of people too. The coral reef ecosystems benefit humans commercially, recreationally and environmentally. Because of the complex interconnections between coral reefs, mangrove forests, sea grass beds, and many other different plants and animals, coral is very susceptible to destruction. One small change in any of these things can affect mass quantities of coral. That is why it is important to educate people about coral and how complex of a species they really are. That is the purpose of this report, to educate you and make you aware of that complexity. Coral is often mistakenly identified as a rock, but in all actuality, it is an animal. The actual coral is composed of small animals called coral polyps. Most polyps are very small, although rare species can grow quite large. One coral branch or mound is composed of thousands of polyps. These thousands of polyps are called a coral colony. Polyps are nocturnal and stay inside their skeletons during the day. However, at night they can be seen when they stick their tentacles out to feed. Corals reproduce in many different ways. Some species are hermaphrodites, and produce both sperm and eggs, and some are single sexed organisms. They can reproduce both sexually or asexually. In most species, the egg and sperm are released into the water and random fertilization occurs. This is called coral spawning. The larva is attracted to the light and swims to the surface of the water where it remains for weeks. If the larva can survive without being eaten by predators, it will sink back to the bottom of the ocean floor. Hear it will attach itself to a hard substrate and will grow into a coral polyp. At this point, t...

Cancer

Cancer Essay The problem is cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world and my interest in the subject is simple. My mother is the most resilient person I have ever met. Any time I need any kind of inspiration, I need only to think of her. When she was eighteen she was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease. The doctors gave her a less than thirty percent chance of living. Since then she has had cancer three other times. Breast cancer twice in 85 and 90, and most recently, colon cancer two summers ago. She has had many different treatments including chemo and radiation therapy as well as surgery to remove lumps in both breasts and her colon. What is cancer? There are more than 100 different types of cancer. It occurs when cells become abnormal and divide without control or order. Normally, cells divide in an orderly way to produce more cells only when the body needs them. If cells keep dividing when new cells are not needed, a mass of tissue forms. This mass of extra tissue, called a growth or tumor, can be benign or malignant. (National Institute of Health) Benign tumors are not cancer. They do not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body. Benign tumors usually can be removed and are seldom a threat to life. Malignant tumors are cancer. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer can also break away from a malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream and lymphatic system. Through the lymphatic system is one of cancers best modes of transport for spreading to form new tumors in other parts of the body. The spread of cancer is called metastasis. Malignant tumors must be treated or will be fa tal. There are many treatments for cancer. Among these are radiation, chemotherapy, surgery and the rapidly growing field of genetic therapy. It was discovered that when radioactive waves were directed on human cells, the cells would be destroyed. The idea of using this technology on cancer was a good one but was unsuccessful at first due to the damage caused to surrounding tissues. Then the analogy drawn from a simple story gave insight on how to focus the rays on the cancer and not harm the surrounding tissues and organs. The story goes like this. A small country was ruled from a strong fortress by a dictator. The fortress was situated in the middle of the country, surrounded by farms and villages. Many roads led to the fortress through the countryside. A rebel general vowed to capture the fortress. The general knew that an attack by his entire army would capture the fortress. He gathered his army at the head of one of the roads, ready to launch a full-scale direct attack. However, the general then learned that the dictator had planted mines on each of the roads. The mines were set so that small bodies of men could pass over them safely, since the dictator needed to move his troops and workers to and from the fortress. However, any large force would detonate the mines. Not only would this blow up the road, but it would also destroy many neighboring villages. It therefore seemed impossible to capture the fortress. However, the general devised a simple plan. He divided his army into small groups and dispatched each group to the head of a different road. When all were ready he gave the signal and each group marched down a different road. Each group continued down its road to the fortress so that the entire army arrived together at the fortress at the same time. In this way, the general was able to capture the fortress and overthrow the dictator. READ: Picasso Persuasive EssayThis simple story was the basis for intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). This is a technique used to treat cancerous tumors on which a removal operation could not be performed. Interesting dose distributions generated by IMRT allow a better sparing of normal tissues with decreased acute and late toxicity, and offer a window for further dose escalations. (De Neve W; Claus F; Van Houtte P; Derycke S; De Wagter C) In order to get a radiation beam of high enough intensity to hit

Tougher than two Muthaf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tougher than two Muthaf - Essay Example The other shapes used are triangles, oval, and circles to create various features. For instance, the face has been masked with triangles in black and yellow creating a pattern. The lines include diagonal, vertical, and horizontal while another cross one another. The lines join to create the desired shapes in the image such as the coat and the mask. The composition is the arrangement of elements in the image to draw the attention of the viewer and in this image, the elements have been arranged to create unity by bringing everything together. The painting has a symmetrical balance creating the sense of calmness, as the man appears cool. The arrangement of lines, shapes, and texture in the image creates a focal point on the face. The different shapes used in the image create a rhythm moving the viewer’s eye to different parts of the image. All the elements in the image have unity, as they seem stuck together. Special attention has been given to the face to create an emphasis of a n African man. The masking of the face and use of blue glasses attracts the attention of the viewer towards the face. The pose on the man’s face also has been emphasized by unmasking the lips, which makes the image appear real since the rest of the face is masked. The image is painted to scale, and the size of the man is not exaggerated. Everything is in proportion, but the hair is abnormally rough and sluggish compared to that of a human being. This creates some emphasis and attracts the attention of the viewer to scrutinize it.

Women in Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Women in Advertising - Essay Example The essay "Women in Advertising" talks about the advertising today is one of the integral phenomena of modern life and the social roles of men and women which they have to carry out. Advertising images are simplified and stereotyped, but in such form they influence people, forcing them not only to buy goods but also reflect in their behavior. In addition to this, very often advertising describes public relations, including gender relations. Simplified nature of sexual roles, forms their similar treatment in the life of each certain individual, this means that, besides the main function (to force the buyer to choose these goods), advertising carries one more function which is social (it creates public relations). Furthermore, advertising transfers the social status or individual feeling concerning the certain product. There you will never hear or see the simple words â€Å"Buy this!†, this may be substituted by the other phrase. In general, they speak about things that you cann ot buy for the money. One cannot deny the fact that the image of a woman from antiquity in all cultures is an embodiment of sexuality and fertility. That is why the majority of the ads are focused on men’s audience, contains an image of the woman: the temptress and fatal beauty with roundish, convex forms. As a rule, women in such advertising show half naked body or its parts in seductive poses that denote an open hint on sex. The romantic image in it has rather a big impact on the audience as it casts thoughts of the finest and strong feeling.

First Amendment Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

First Amendment Rights - Essay Example The freedom of speech and expression has its downside and its negative effects include: discrimination and hatred caused due to religious freedom of expression, obscenity and biased content presented by media and protest against measures that are healthy for the overall society. One of the main reasons due to which the First Amendment was enacted was to protect the right of all religions to exercise their religion in a free manner. The issue with free exercise of religion is that religious groups preach their followers that their religion is superior to other religions and is the best religion. This has resulted in differences among individuals representing different religions and has led to the growth of biased attitudes of followers of one religion for followers of other religion (Basford, 2003, p.386). Another issue is that, Schools and Universities that are backed by religion such as Catholic schools even have students from different religions and these educational institutes ten d to promote their own religion within the educational institute as a result of freedom to exercise religious activities. This coerces followers of one religion to follow the teachings and practices of other religion. Another issue is that while religious teachers of different religions are preaching their followers, they tend to create hatred among their followers for people of different religions. Another reason due to which the First Amendment was enacted was to protect the media from any policies that could restrict their activities and content they use. Media is considered as an important part of the American society as it educates and provides information about day to day events that are taking place within the American society. But media has surely crossed its lines and has misused the freedom it had. Media used to be highly regulated through rules and regulations, scenes that are obscene in nature and information that is biased in nature was not allowed to be aired on media. Today, media openly provides biased information and acts as trial rooms for several issues and try to become the judge of these issues. There have been several instances where national TV channels such as CNN have aired obscenity. For example: The exposure of Jannet Jacson’s nudity on CNN which is a national TV channel (Anderson, 2004, p.1). Another important part of media is Internet and the access to internet has increased with the passage of time. One of the most troubling realities of Internet is the pornographic material that is promoted through it. Internet is used by people of all ages and the population that has gained majority in using internet is teenagers and children. This population tends to access pornographic material which is hampering their mental development. The First Amendment right of protesting against the government for the protection of individual rights has even caused several issues. The main problem caused by this clause is that the citizens might protest the government against making rules and regulations that are beneficial for the society and the government might be held responsible for conducting discrimination if it makes decision in favor of certain part of population, while the same decision might not be in favor of others. For example: the government is trying to use gun

Patient with heart failure Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Patient with heart failure - Case Study Example rthopnea are caused insufficient flow of blood so that there is no enough oxygen circulating within the body therefore causing a problem of breathing. The symptom of diaphoretic comes about when the body tries to enable the heart muscles pump enough oxygen in blood through the body and this ends up causing profuse perspiration (Molinari & Compare et al., 2006). The priority problems that the patient has based on the nursing assessment done upon admission include, severe dyspnea, a low heartbeat of 132 beats per minute, diaphoresis and a risky blood pressure of 98/70mmhg because they are potentially fatal (Molinari & Compare et al., 2006). ECG is administered before dose 3 and 4 to boost the electrical activity of the heart and increase muscle performance, start IV treatment is used to prevent nausea, vomiting and correct urinary dysfunctions . Remarkably, the nurse should instruct the patient to avoid food items with sodium salt, quit smoking, drinking alcohol, do regular exercise, and lose weight to avoid accumulation of cholesterol around the myocardium. The nurse should teach the patient that digoxin causes a little nausea and vomiting (Molinari & Compare et al.,

What does a particular scene tell us about the songstress-character Essay

What does a particular scene tell us about the songstress-character - Essay Example During our research we used the information concerning the topic from different books and articles as for example: the book by Emilie Yueh-yu named China. The International Film Musical; Primitive Passions: Visuality, Sexuality, Ethnography, and Contemporary Chinese Cinema by Rey Chow and the Film history: an introduction by Kristin Bordwell, David Thompson. These books describe different aspects of the Chinese filmmaking in general; the Yueh-yu’s book reveals some important peculiarities of the songstress Grace Chang and the image of Deng Sijia created by her in the film The Wild, Wild Rose. Also this essay includes our own thoughts concerning the Deng Sijia’s representation (behaviour) and its resemblance to the typical Hollywood films. The film under the study resembles more American than Chinese style of the main character’s representation. The author Rey Chow gives a critical point of view to the Chinese filmmakers who create their works imitating the American ones (Chow Rey, 1995). So the given film is obviously one of those who fell a victim to such a criticism. And agree with the Chow’s point of view. Emilie Yueh-yu in her turn claims that: â€Å"From the beginning, musicals in China were entangled with Western forms and thus unlikely to qualify as national cinema, despite the importance of opers and popular songs in Chinese life† (Yueh-yu. 2012). To my mind, the songstress, in that part where she sings the song The  Merry Widow, shows us one of the most vivid examples of the American-style behaviour. She is trying to seduce a young pianist by touching his face, laying her hands on his shoulders and carelessly playing with his hair. She also uses all her feminine power to draw the pianist’s attention; she dances around the piano, graciously sways around her beloved man. So, we can say that the behaviour of the Wild Rose is quite unusual in comparison with that one which is typical and considered to be normal for the Chinese

First Amendment Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

First Amendment Rights - Essay Example The freedom of speech and expression has its downside and its negative effects include: discrimination and hatred caused due to religious freedom of expression, obscenity and biased content presented by media and protest against measures that are healthy for the overall society. One of the main reasons due to which the First Amendment was enacted was to protect the right of all religions to exercise their religion in a free manner. The issue with free exercise of religion is that religious groups preach their followers that their religion is superior to other religions and is the best religion. This has resulted in differences among individuals representing different religions and has led to the growth of biased attitudes of followers of one religion for followers of other religion (Basford, 2003, p.386). Another issue is that, Schools and Universities that are backed by religion such as Catholic schools even have students from different religions and these educational institutes ten d to promote their own religion within the educational institute as a result of freedom to exercise religious activities. This coerces followers of one religion to follow the teachings and practices of other religion. Another issue is that while religious teachers of different religions are preaching their followers, they tend to create hatred among their followers for people of different religions. Another reason due to which the First Amendment was enacted was to protect the media from any policies that could restrict their activities and content they use. Media is considered as an important part of the American society as it educates and provides information about day to day events that are taking place within the American society. But media has surely crossed its lines and has misused the freedom it had. Media used to be highly regulated through rules and regulations, scenes that are obscene in nature and information that is biased in nature was not allowed to be aired on media. Today, media openly provides biased information and acts as trial rooms for several issues and try to become the judge of these issues. There have been several instances where national TV channels such as CNN have aired obscenity. For example: The exposure of Jannet Jacson’s nudity on CNN which is a national TV channel (Anderson, 2004, p.1). Another important part of media is Internet and the access to internet has increased with the passage of time. One of the most troubling realities of Internet is the pornographic material that is promoted through it. Internet is used by people of all ages and the population that has gained majority in using internet is teenagers and children. This population tends to access pornographic material which is hampering their mental development. The First Amendment right of protesting against the government for the protection of individual rights has even caused several issues. The main problem caused by this clause is that the citizens might protest the government against making rules and regulations that are beneficial for the society and the government might be held responsible for conducting discrimination if it makes decision in favor of certain part of population, while the same decision might not be in favor of others. For example: the government is trying to use gun

What does a particular scene tell us about the songstress-character Essay

What does a particular scene tell us about the songstress-character - Essay Example During our research we used the information concerning the topic from different books and articles as for example: the book by Emilie Yueh-yu named China. The International Film Musical; Primitive Passions: Visuality, Sexuality, Ethnography, and Contemporary Chinese Cinema by Rey Chow and the Film history: an introduction by Kristin Bordwell, David Thompson. These books describe different aspects of the Chinese filmmaking in general; the Yueh-yu’s book reveals some important peculiarities of the songstress Grace Chang and the image of Deng Sijia created by her in the film The Wild, Wild Rose. Also this essay includes our own thoughts concerning the Deng Sijia’s representation (behaviour) and its resemblance to the typical Hollywood films. The film under the study resembles more American than Chinese style of the main character’s representation. The author Rey Chow gives a critical point of view to the Chinese filmmakers who create their works imitating the American ones (Chow Rey, 1995). So the given film is obviously one of those who fell a victim to such a criticism. And agree with the Chow’s point of view. Emilie Yueh-yu in her turn claims that: â€Å"From the beginning, musicals in China were entangled with Western forms and thus unlikely to qualify as national cinema, despite the importance of opers and popular songs in Chinese life† (Yueh-yu. 2012). To my mind, the songstress, in that part where she sings the song The  Merry Widow, shows us one of the most vivid examples of the American-style behaviour. She is trying to seduce a young pianist by touching his face, laying her hands on his shoulders and carelessly playing with his hair. She also uses all her feminine power to draw the pianist’s attention; she dances around the piano, graciously sways around her beloved man. So, we can say that the behaviour of the Wild Rose is quite unusual in comparison with that one which is typical and considered to be normal for the Chinese

How a Simple Gesture of Courtesy Can Change Humanity Essay Example for Free

How a Simple Gesture of Courtesy Can Change Humanity Essay Basically, Courtesy is simply defined as showing of politeness towards other people. However, if you think about it further, this word means so much more as it can make huge changes in our lives, our nation, and the entire humanity. Nowadays, it is quite significant that we show kindness to other people, not just the ones we personally get to be acquainted with but especially those individuals we don’t know. Being civil towards each other only means that we respect each other’s opinions, way of thinking, and actions. We all know that each and every one of us are uniquely created and we have to understand those differences because we can all grow and learn from each other if we only take the time to make realizations out of these everyday actions. One good paradigm is our school community here at LPU in Manila. We have to face the reality that there can be times when we cannot contain ourselves from making a fuss out of class misunderstanding with our professors/classmates; or the never ending school violations that we get from the school guards; waiting in queue for long lines during enrollment, paying for our school fees, or merely waiting for our turn to be served food at the cafeteria; and asking for some mercy from our terror professors who finds it rather fun to see us having a difficult time accomplishing their subject requirements. These are those â€Å"some things† that can make our temper soar rocket high. At one point, before making not-so-good reactions, have we asked ourselves about how we should deal with all these? Have we thought of showing courtesy even if we feel that we’re being violated of our rights on those sometimes? I personally think that showing act of politeness can turn dreadful situations into something better. We can define ourselves with how we usually act when no one is watching. Good thoughts toward others are very important not because it can make you look excellent and ideal, but it can personally and eventually professionally hone you into a good citizen of this country. Showing that you appreciate your professors through studying well on their class can make them feel that they’re doing their jobs precisely. If we take a closer look at how these educators passionately share their knowledge with us, we’ll all realize that their profession is priceless. We should know the fact that they serve as our second parents and we must give them equal respect that we give our real ones. As a student of this university, I would have to say that courtesy doesn’t just end with showing acts of politeness and kindness inside the school premises. We should exhibit courtesy everywhere we go and with whomever we meet. Our real lives actually start when we leave school and face the sometimes unfair and harsh reality of the world. I know for sure that if we only give out courtesy not just from our minds but also from our hearts, we can change this country’s state and become one of the best from around the globe. We cannot just leave our country’s success to the government. Because again, courtesy plays a huge part into making a country stand out. Being a good citizen is not about becoming a politician that can guide this country and its people. We can be our simple selves and yet make a huge difference by doing our part. We can show courteousness through abiding law; helping out other Filipinos; supporting our government’s projects; having a warm heart for less fortunate; sharing our knowledge through hard work; and being honest, just and fair. Filipinos are known to be hard working, respectful, kind, and humble. If we keep on improving not just because we want to be successful but also to become better persons each day, the whole world can perceive how simple courtesy can make everything better. The whole world needs courtesy just like it needs love. Courteousness is one of the significant factors that can make an individual, a nation, and humanity exceptional. Courtesy starts with us. It is given and should not be asked for.

Housing, Economic Growth and Poverty: A Literature Review

Housing, Economic Growth and Poverty: A Literature Review Abstract This paper reviews literature on the relationship between housing finance, economic growth and poverty.   While it is evident that housing construction creates jobs, the review reveals that there is a need for more research to determine the long-term economic benefits of housing and whether housing finance in particular can be an effective tool in eradicating poverty.   The limited evidence is due in part to limits in data and the need to utilize robust econometric techniques to determine the direction of causality in these relationships (i.e. does increased economic growth lead to increased demand for housing and hence housing construction and finance or does housing construction and finance lead to increased economic growth and lower poverty).   Though little direct evidence was found, the financial deepening literature suggests that as housing finance deepens financial markets, it may play a role in poverty alleviation.   This relationship should be investigated further. 1. Introduction While the focus of this review is to summarize empirical evidence regarding the relationship between housing, economic growth and poverty, there is considerable stylized and anecdotal evidence that makes a case for housing as a prescription for poverty.   This literature is extensive although recent books on eradicating poverty in the developing world say very little explicitly about the role of housing.   The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs (2011), states that most would accept that fact that schools, clinics, roads, electricity, ports, soil nutrients, clean drinking water; and the like are the basic necessities for a life of dignity and health, as well as for economic productivity.   Sachs goes on to delineate the strategy for ending extreme poverty by 2025.   While he mentions key investments in people and in infrastructure, he does not explicitly mention housing.   The same can be said of Banerjee and Duflo (2011) and Karlan and Appel (2011).   Perhaps there is an und erlying assumption that housing is necessary.   Perhaps, housing is considered part of the infrastructure that they refer to. Or, perhaps the underlying belief is that economic growth will lead to better housing conditions. At any rate, a specific consideration of the impact of housing on poverty is not given in these recent books on the subject of eradicating poverty in this millennium.   This is representative of what was discovered upon reviewing the empirical literature on this issue. Some authors assert that housing loans and finance are needed but do not provide economic analysis to back this claim.   For example, Bunnarith (2004) in discussing national housing policy in Cambodia asserts that â€Å"housing is needed so that people can have a safe and secure environment.†Ã‚   There is no discussion in his policy paper of the true economic impact of housing construction or finance on economic growth or poverty reduction.   Similarly, Habitat for Humanity specifically acknowledges that housing is necessary to eradicate poverty.   In ‘Consequences of Poverty Housing,’ Habitat for Humanity asserts that the lack of suitable housing creates disadvantages at many levels.   It is seen as interfering with a household’s ability to break out of poverty because so much of the household’s time and money is spent on house maintenance and repairs and not on food, health, education and income generation.   Due to a lack of suitable housing, there is less efficiency arising from illnesses, inability to educate children and an inability to provide a safe and secure environment for economic endeavors.   These are testable implications but little has been done to document these losses empirically, likely due to data limitations.   Some evidence is found and listed in the education section. While there is quite a bit of literature on the interactions between GDP and housing investment, there is surprisingly little evidence documenting the relationship between housing, economic growth and poverty.   One reason for the limited evidence is limitations in quantity of data in developing countries, especially the poorest ones, Hull (2009).   A second reason for the limited evidence is that it is difficult to determine the direction of causality between economic growth and housing.   Ã‚  There is a need to use general equilibrium models which are not easily tested with the available data in the developing countries.   Data limitations are particularly severe when trying to test these relationships in the poorest of the developing countries.   Finally, macroeconomics and housing finance were not studied in depth in economic literature prior to the 1980s, even for the U.S.   Ã‚  When studies were done they typically looked at housing demand as a function of income and growth not the impact of housing on economic growth, see Leung (2004).   Even if where there is analysis of housing finance in developed countries, it may be difficult to make direct inferences about relationships between housing and economic growth in developing countries using those results because so many other factors are at work including financial sector development, government involvement and types of housing. With these limitations in mind, there is some information that may be useful in analyzing the impact of housing finance on economic growth, job creation and poverty.   The impact of housing on economic growth, in developed and some developing markets is highlighted in the next section.   Next, there is a review of the impact of housing on job growth.   The third section reviews what is known about the impact of housing and housing finance on job creation.   Section four reviews the impact of housing finance on poverty.   Some inferences in that section are based on studies of financial market development on poverty.   Section five examines potential social and revenue consequences of housing.   Finally there is a summary of findings in section six. 2. Housing and Economic Impact Housing and Economic Growth: Hongyu, Park and Siqi (2002) recognize the causality dilemma when studying housing investment and economic growth.   They use Granger causality tests to study the case of China from 1981 – 2000.   This study does not address the poverty impact it just studies housing and economic growth.   The authors find that compared to non-housing investment, housing investment has a stronger short-run effect on economic growth.   They also find that housing investment has a long run impact on economic growth but not on non-housing investment.   On the other hand, economic growth has a long run impact on both housing and non-housing investment.   These findings suggest that housing is important in explaining only short-term economic cycles in economic growth. Chen and Zhu (2008) also study the long- and short- run relationship between housing investment and economic growth in China.   The authors look at panel data from 1999 through 2007.   They use robust econometric tests to examine Granger causality of the relationship and find that the relationship is bidirectional in both short – and long- run.   In other words, in China during this period, housing investment impacted economic growth and vice versa.   It will be interesting to see if this result holds over a longer period where more economic cycles are included in the data.   Interestingly, the relationship is different depending on which provinces are analyzed.   The eastern provinces show bidirectional causality like the overall results but results for other provinces indicate that GDP granger causes housing investment but not vice versa. In addition to the empirical analysis of the relationship between housing and economic growth, there are some estimates of multiplier effects associated with construction in developing countries.   For example, Uy (2006) cites that for every 1 peso spent on housing activities in the Philippines, an additional 16.61 pesos is contributed to the GDP.   In Argentina, Freire, et. al (2006) estimate that a 1,000,000 peso investment in construction leads to 1.8 times that amount in demand.   In 1995, a United Nations study indicated that in most developing countries construction of low- income housing is labor intensive and therefore housing construction has a high multiplier effect of between 2 and 3 times the initial investment.   This arises due to the large infrastructure investment (roads, utilities, water, etc.) required in housing development in those countries.   .   In comparison, The National Association of Realtor’s model suggests that the multiplier for home sales in the U.S. is between 1.34 and 1.62. Erbas and Nothaft (2002) study a sample of MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) countries.   Using parameters from the U.S. they simulate the impact that improved home mortgage availability would have on housing markets and economic growth in these countries.   They find that mortgage market reforms would increase housing units built by 10% with a 600 basis point decline in mortgage interest rates.   The impact that the increased mortgage accessibility and housing would have on economic growth is not significant however.   That is because they find, like other studies, that increased investment in housing â€Å"crowds out† investment in other sectors.   The impact on overall growth will be greater if this housing finance helps to improve small business credit. Housing Finance and Affordability Dübel (2007) proposes a model where housing prices are determined by rents, R, growth, g, and the opportunity cost of capital, k, where P = R/(k g).   The role of housing finance in this model is to reduce the cost of capital.   As that cost is lowered, housing prices fall and affordability of housing increases. Housing and Savings Buckley (1996) cites several reasons that mortgage market development can improve household savings.   First, the return to housing will likely provide positive returns especially in light of rapid urbanization in developing countries.   Second, housing provides the most secure collateral against market fluctuations and a positive yield over the long-run.   Third, housing prices are less volatile than other asset prices.   Fourth, the availability of housing improves labor mobility and therefore employment potential.   Finally, the availability of affordable housing finance may lead to increased savings as potential homeowners save to make the required down payment and to maintain their asset.   While many of the work in this area suggests that there should be benefits to overall savings and investment arising from increased access to affordable housing, the literature does not appear to have documented these benefits empirically.   This is an area rich for further exploration. 3. Housing and Job Creation The Case of the United States Wardrip, Williams and Hague (2011) review the literature on the role of affordable housing in particular, in creating jobs and stimulating local economic development in the U.S.   They find that the development of affordable housing increases spending and employment in the surrounding economy.   There are several models used in the housing literature that use â€Å"inputs† such as information on the purchase and production of goods and services for hundreds of U.S. industry sectors, the type and number of businesses in a given community, and a measure of the spending associated with a given program.   Given these inputs, the models â€Å"output† the level of economic activity expected for a given level of housing investment.   For example, the National Association of Home Builders uses a proprietary model to estimate the impact of building 100 new low-income housing tax credit developments for families.   The model predicts that the investment will, on average, lead to the creation of 80 new jobs from the direct and indirect effects of construction and 42 jobs supported by the induced effects of increased spending.   In the long-term, building these units also leads to 30 new jobs that support on-going consumer activity of the new residents.   Market-rate apartment housing will create a similar amount of jobs with just a couple of additional jobs (32) supported by households occupying the new homes.   Of course the models are dependent on the productivity of investment within the community and would likely look very different across countries being considered.   It will depend significantly on the amount of skilled labor available for the construction work since 70% of the jobs created as a direct or indirect result of the new construction, are in fact construction jobs. Rural vs. Urban In support of the findings above, in considering the impact of housing development on a rural community’s economy, the Housing Assistance Council states that housing construction and rehabilitation have a high ratio (62.3%) of value-added to gross outlays.   This means that a large percentage of the outlay for housing construction is available to create wages and salaries, and stimulate job growth in rural economies in the U.S.   The document does not compare the ratio for rural communities with that in urban communities.   This is an important distinction since most of the growth in developing countries centers around urban areas.  Ã‚   Quigley (2008) suggests that results on the relationships between investment and economic growth may be dependent on whether that investment is rural or urban.   The author finds that urbanization promotes productivity due to increases in specialization, centralization of knowledge, complementarities in production and economies of scale and scope.   If this is true, an investment in an urban center may produce greater economic growth than that same investment in a rural area.   This will be an important factor in directing housing policy and finance. Housing and Jobs in Emerging Markets In emerging markets there is some data on job creation as well as the previously cited multiplier effects associated with construction.   For example, in Argentina, Freire, Hassler, et. al (2006) estimate that a 1,000,000 peso investment in construction creates some 40 jobs directly and 20 jobs indirectly from services and related industries.   Tipple (1994) cites numerous studies that find multiplier effects from housing investment.   For example, the National Building Organization in India estimates that a $1,000,000 investment in building construction leads to 600 on-site jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs.   The construction process may stimulate economic growth through backward linkages (e.g. processing building materials) and forward linkages during and after the construction process (e.g. restaurants, repair shops and small scale manufacturing).   However, according to Erbas and Nothaft (2002), housing construction in some developing countries is actually quite capital intensive and reliant on imported materials; as a result only a small percentage of the labor force of these developing countries is employed in construction.   In addition to the construction related jobs, Dübel (2007) finds a positive correlation between financial and real estate related services and the housing to GDP ratio.   Specifically, during the property market upturn in Hong Kong in the 1980s and early 1990s, a doubling of the housing market share of GDP led the share of financial, insurance, real estate and business services to triple from 6.5% to 16.3% of GDP.   Other service sectors, including community, social and personal services also grew, likely as a result of indirect inputs to construction activity as well as increased tax revenues.   4. Housing and Its Impact on Poverty The literature on the relationship between housing and poverty is much smaller than that on housing and economic growth.   Hull (2009) notes there are significant data limitations especially on headcount poverty and labor market outcomes.   These data limitations make testing difficult.   There is a particular need for data in sub-Saharan Africa.   Some findings can be noted and they suggest that all housing investment is not created equal when it comes to addressing poverty.   Some of these studies are highlighted here. Gutierrez et al. (2007) find strong evidence that the sectoral pattern of growth and its employment and productivity-intensities matter for poverty reduction. While employment-intensive growth in the secondary sector (manufacturing, construction, mining and utilities) is correlated with poverty reduction, employment-intensive growth in agriculture is correlated with increases in the poverty headcount.   By extension, if housing creates growth in manufacturing, construction, mining and utilities, it may be effective in reducing poverty.   Similarly, Hull (2009) finds the construction sector is relatively productive but not in all countries.   That is, construction reduces measures of poverty in some but not all countries. Erbas and Nothaft (2002) find that low income housing has a lower import component in production and also higher labor intensity.   This implies that construction of low income housing will lead to greater employment and growth than the construction of middle or high income housing.   Construction of low income housing can effectively improve the living standards of the poorer segments of the population in two ways – by creation of jobs and by creation of suitable housing. Tipple (1994) reviews the literature on the links between employment and housing development and shows that investment in shelter is very effective for promoting employment, especially among lower-income groups; some of the benefits to the economy tend to be inversely proportional to housing cost meaning that low cost housing is more beneficial to the economy.   The informal sector and small-scale enterprises tend to outperform the formal sector and larger enterprises. Housing Policy and Poverty in Developing Countries As housing finance policy is considered, the housing programs and policies of local governments must be accounted for in order to assess the potential effectiveness of housing finance in different countries.   For example, Malpezzi and Sa-Aadu (1996) review contemporary African housing markets and policies.   They find that resource allocation in these countries was quite different than their intended objectives.   These policies have discouraged housing investment and have been both inequitable and distortional.   The authors suggest that privatization of housing investment is more efficient and the African governments need to â€Å"disengage.†Ã‚   Taking the example of the U.S., direct government housing production has been less efficient than private sector tax incentives in developing affordable housing [see Erbas and Nothaft (2002)]. Researchers and policymakers have noted that the housing finance systems in some countries have not been effective in reaching the low income segments of the population.   For example, Moss (2004) states that in South Africa the housing finance system has had little impact on the low-income segment of the population.   Specifically, â€Å"attempts to expand credit into this market through micro-loans have been characterized by initiatives that have yet to demonstrate some form of success.†   The financial sector in South Africa consists of many banks, a number of specialized finance companies and a large number of the so-called alternative lenders.   Future studies should investigate which of these alternatives is likely to have success in reaching the lower income segments of the population.   According to Moss (2004), housing finance has also not been very successful in Nigeria where the gap between income and shelter cost is very wide and has basically eliminated the low income earners from the housing market.   Similarly, Rahman (2009) states that the lack of available and accessible housing finance has been identified by the Government of Bangladesh as one of the important hurdles in improving housing conditions for middle- and lower-income households. Although several potential sources of housing finance for mid- and high-income consumers exist, most of the low-income families’ needs are still unmet. Housing Finance in Developing Markets While there are differences in how housing finance occurs across developing countries, there are some similarities and shared concerns.   The degree to which a country’s banks invest in mortgage lending is relatively low in developing countries when compared to developed countries.   For example, Rahman (2009) cites that in Bangladesh, 4% of banking sector assets are in housing.   In many countries there are state funded and/or sponsored housing finance institutions with government guarantees.   However, there may be allocation problems in that loans are allocated based on politics and not on financials and the granting process can be long and inefficient.   There are not as many types of mortgage instruments and in fact many countries are just beginning to grant fixed-rate mortgages which eliminate interest rate risk for the borrower.   The maturity of mortgage loans tends to be shorter in developing countries – 10 years is the maximum term for some mortgag es in Bangladesh.   In addition to state sponsored financial institutions and banks, home finance is offered by micro finance institutions.   In Bangladesh, one such institution offers these loans for a term of 10 years without collateral.   Although there is no collateral, the borrower must obtain title to the land and must sign a pledge to repay and obtain a group pledge to repay the loan if he or she fails to do so.   These programs tend to rely on a borrowers track record, group pressure and mutual support to control credit risk.   Moss (2004) finds similarities in housing finance in South Africa and to a lesser extent, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.   In most of these countries, anecdotal evidence suggests that the supply of housing finance is much less than the demand and that the institutional structures have not provided sufficient access to housing for the poor. Housing, Financial Deepening and Poverty: One segment of housing finance is the secondary mortgage market and the creation of mortgage instruments or bonds.   While there has not been research on the development of mortgage markets and poverty specifically, the development of those markets can be viewed as part of an overall financial deepening of the capital markets in these developing countries.   Financial deepening has been studied and it may serve as a proxy for the development of secondary mortgage markets to the extent that they occur simultaneously.   At any rate, the development of a secondary mortgage market would be consistent with increasing the breadth and depth of the capital market.   Therefore, a review of the relationship between financial deepening and poverty may tell something about the potential impact of mortgage market development and poverty.   Consistent with this view, Malpezzi (1999) suggests that much of the world is shifting from a housing finance perspective, where special circuits are used to mobilize short-term household deposits for long-term mortgages, to a perspective where housing finance is integrated with broader capital markets. Buckley and Madhusudhan (1984) test a model of the relationship between housing investment and GDP, anticipated inflation, changes in inflation and the extent of capital deepening across several developing and transition countries.   They find that, holding all else constant countries with deeper financial markets invest relatively more in housing.   Singh and Huang (2011) analyze data from sub-Saharan Africa between 1992 and 2006.   They find that financial deepening (as measured in part by credit to the private sector as a percent of GDP) is associated with less poverty and income disparities in SSA countries and that this is most important in early stages of financial development.   Stronger property rights strengthen this relationship.   Finally, Beck, Demirguc-Kunt and Levine (2004) examine a broad cross country sample of 58 developing countries and find that financial development (as measured by the ratio of financial intermediation to the private section to GDP) reduces income inequality by disproportionately raising the incomes of the poor. Impact of Financial Deepening on the Base of the Pyramid and Absolute Poor Singh & Huang (2011) look at different definitions of poverty and examine the impact of financial deepening on them.   The measures of poverty include, the headcount index which measures the percentage of the population living with per capita consumption or income below the poverty line, defined as US$1 a day.   Another measure is the poverty gap which takes into account the distance of the poor from the poverty line.   A third measure is the income of the poorest quintile or average per capita income of the poorest 20 percent of the population.   Using each of these measures of poverty and a sample of SSA countries, the authors find that poverty is inversely related to financial deepening.   The authors also look at the Gini coefficient which is derived from the Lorenz curve.   Larger values of this coefficient indicated greater income inequality.   For this variable the relationship between poverty and financial deepening is insignificant.   In other words, financia l deepening reduces absolute levels of poverty but does not impact income inequality in a significant manner in this sample of SSA countries.   This suggests that various definitions should be examined to gain further insight into the relationship between housing and poverty and to capture the impact on the absolute poor. 5.   Housing Finance and Revenue and Social Consequences Government Revenue Links to Housing Wardrip, Williams and Hauge (2011) itemize revenues from housing development in the U.S.   Some lessons can be learned from this data.   Revenue sources during the construction phase include sales taxes on building materials, corporate taxes on builders’ profits, income taxes on construction workers, and fees for zoning, inspections, and the like.   These estimates presume that the building materials are purchased locally, to the extent the materials are brought in from elsewhere, revenues will of course be lower.   This is something that will impact housing construction in IDA countries.   Revenues in the model depend on local tax structures, construction costs, development fees and whether the local mix of industries is conducive to capturing construction-related activity.   For example, Hangen and Northrup (2010) analyze the effects of developing and rehabilitating 582 affordable homes in Rhode Island in 2007 and 2008 with $25 million in housing bonds.   They estimate that the subsequent income, corporate and sales taxes and fees associated with the total economic activity increased state revenues by roughly $16.7 million during the development period.   In an analysis of a proposed Pennsylvania state housing trust fund, Econsult (2009) finds that for every $1 million in proposed spending, the state stands to gain $82,000 in revenue from the construction of single family homes; these revenues would be higher if the $1 million were spent on affordable multifamily housing. In addition to immediate fiscal benefits, housing construction also provides on-going benefits to the locality.  Ã‚   On-going revenue sources include residential property taxes, property taxes from the businesses supported by the residents, and utility user fees.   A residential development has a net positive fiscal impact only if taxes exceed the cost of providing services to the residents.   The evidence regarding the net effect of affordable housing is inconclusive.   However, there is evidence to suggest that market-rate housing provides net positive fiscal impact (National Association of Home Builders, 2009). Political Stability and Housing There is a presumption that housing improves political stability.   So far, no evidence has been found to indicate that this is true although it is a stylized fact.   Provision of housing is international law.   Sachs (2011) reminds us that it’s a right granted in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights as follows: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care †¦ There may be indirect support to the extent that there has been evidence to indicate that housing improves education and education is believed to improve political stability (see evidence in next section).   The relationship between political stability and housing may go in the other direction.   In other words, political instability can affect the housing market.   According to Tu and Bao (2009), instability may weaken investor’s beliefs in property rights, putting the investors in fear that part of the investment may be lost due to poor protection.   Therefore, investors may pay less for the property rights when facing political uncertainty.   Their study uses 10 years of data from Hong Kong and Singapore where there were differences in political scenarios but similar land lease structures and property cycles.   The empirical evidence supports the idea that political instability lowers property rights premiums. Education and Housing To the extent that housing improves homeowner’s borrowing capacity, housing finance could lead to more investment in human capital.   Since investment in human capital may require an individual to borrow money, and borrowing money is costly, to the extent that housing finance lowers the cost of borrowing, it should lead to larger investments in human capital.   Many authors [starting with Becker (1975) and Atkinson (1975)] studied the link between investment in human capital and wealth distribution.   An implication of these models is that income inequality will decrease as access to finance improves. Some studies have documented a link between housing and education.   To the extent that housing finance improves housing affordability for the poor, housing finance may improve education opportunities for the poor.   Jacoby (1994) finds that lack of access to credit perpetuates poverty in Peru because poor households can’t afford to provide their children with appropriate education.   Jacoby and Skoufias (1997) find that without access to finance, shocks to income cause poor families to discontinue schooling for children.   Housing provides an asset that can be used to smooth shocks to income. If housing indeed improves education opportunities for children of the poor then by extension housing will improve political stability.   Sachs (2011) in explaining why governments should provide education, quotes Adam Smith who said, â€Å"An instructed and intelligent people †¦ are more disposed to examine, and more capable of seeing through, the interested complaints of faction and seditiontherefore, the whole society is at risk when any segment of society is poorly educated.†Ã‚   6. Summary A review of the literature pertaining to housing, economic growth and poverty reveals that much more research is needed in order to determine the true economic benefits of housing and whether housing finance in particular can be an effective tool in eradicating poverty.   The paucity of evidence is due in part to limits in data and the need to utilize robust econometric techniques to test for the direction of the causality in these relationships.   In other words, more research needs to explore whether housing construction leads to economic growth or economic growth leads to increased demand for housing and by extension housing finance.   Although there is little direct documentation that housing finance improves economic standing or living standards of the poor, some inferences can be made from the related literature.   The most promising evidence is found in the financial deepening literature where it has been shown that improvements in financial markets are associated with reducing absolute levels of poverty.   To the extent that financial deepening improves with the development of mortgage markets, then housing finance may also be effective in reducing poverty.   In addition, there appears to be solid evidence that housing construction produces jobs – directly and indirectly through the supporting service industries.   Housing is also shown to improve prospects for education and thus may reduce income inequality.   Evidence indicates that there is no one size fits all relationship between housing, economic growth and poverty.   Although evidence shows that housing investment impacts economic growth, that relationship varies within countries and over time.   While not explored in depth in this review, there are some concerns regarding the impact of housing on economic development and poverty.   For example, due to considerable transactions costs, some suggest that housing may reduce job mobility.   In addition, while housing construction may create construction related jobs, there is a question as to whether that just crowds out investment in other sectors of the economy.   Housing finance while improving access to housing, may also increase opportunities for speculation and may lead to large booms and busts and housing cycles that may negatively impact the economy in the longer run. These and other concerns should be explored further to determine their significance. References Atkinson, A. B., 1974, The Economics of Inequality (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Banerjee, Abhijit and E. Duflo, 2011,   Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, (Public Affairs, New York). Becker, G. S., 1975, Human Capital, NBER and Columbia University Press, New York. Buckley, Robert, 1996, Housing Finance in Developing Countries, (McMillan, London). Buckley, R. and R. Madhusudhan, 1984, The Macroeconomics of Housing’s Role in the Economy: An International Analysis, Presented to the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. Bunnarith, M., 2004, Between Poverty Reduction Strategy and National Housing Policy, National University of Singapore Working Paper. Chen, J. and A. Zhu, 2008, The Relationship Between Housing Investment and Economic Growth in China: A Panel Analysis Using Quarterly Provincial Data, China National Social Science Foundation Working Paper. Dübel, Hans-Joachim, 2007, Does Housing Finance Promote Economic and Social Development in Emerging Markets?, Housing Finance Impact Study for International Finance Corporation. Econsult Corporation, 2009, Potential Economic and Fiscal Impacts of a Pennsylvania Housing Trust Fund, The Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. Erbas, S. and F. Nothaft, 2002, The Role of Affordable Mortgages in Improving Living Standards and Stimulating Growth: A Survey of Selected MENA Countries, IMF Working Paper. Freire, Mila, M. Gautier and O. Hassler, 2006, Review of Argentina’s Housing Sector: Options for Affordable Housing Policy, World Bank Working Paper. Guitierrez, C., et. al., 2007, Does Employment Generation Really Matter for Poverty Reduction?, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4432, World Bank, Washington, DC. Habitat for Humanity, Consequences of Poverty Housing. Hangen, Eric, and J. Northrup, 2010, Building Homes Rhode Island: An Analysis of Economic Impacts, Housing Works RI. Hongyu, Liu, Y. Park and Z. Siqi, 2002, The Interaction between Housing Investment and Economic Growth in China, International Real Estate Review, 5: 1, p. 40 – 60. Housing Assistance Council, 1998, The Effects of Housing Development on a Rural Community’s Economy. Hull, Katy, 2009, Understanding the Relationship Between Economic Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction, OECD. Jacoby, Hanan, 1994, Borrowing Constraints and Progress through School: Evidence from Peru, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 76, 151-160. Jacoby, Hanan and E. Skoufias, 1997, Risk, Financial Markets, and Human Capital, Review of Economic Studies, Vol 64, 311-335. Karlan, Dean and J. Appel, 2011, More Than Good Intentions: How a New Economics is Helping to Solve Global Poverty, (Dutton, New York). Leung, C., 2004, Macroeconomics and Housing: A Review of the Literature, Journal of Housing Economics, 13: p. 249-267. Malpezzi, Stephen, 1999, Economic Analysis of Housing Markets in Developing and Transition Economies, Urbanization in Transforming Economies, p. 1791-1864. Malpezzi, Stephen and J. Sa-Aadu, 1996, What Have African Housing Policies Wrought?, Real Estate Economics, Vol. 24:2, p. 133-160. Moss, Vuyisani, 2004, Preview of Housing Finance Systems in Four Different African Countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa. National Association of Home Builders, 2009, The Local Impact of Home Building in a Typical Metro Area: Income, Jobs and Taxes Generated. Washington, DC. Quigley, John, 2008, Urbanization, Agglomeration and Economic Development, Commission on Growth and Development, Working Paper No. 19. Rahman, Khandaker, 2009, Development of Housing Finance and its Impact on Socio-Economic Uplift in the Emerging Economy in Bangladesh, IFC Bulletin No. 31. Sachs, Jeffrey, 2005, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, (The Penguin Press, New York). Singh, Raju and Y. Huang, 2011, Financial Deepening and Property Rights: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, IMF Working Paper No. 11/196. Tipple, A. Graham, 1994, Employment from Housing: A Resource for Rapidly Growing Urban Populations, Cities 11, No. 6, p. 373. Tu, Y. and H. Bao, 2009, Property Rights and Housing Value: The Impacts of Political Instability, Real Estate Economics, 37:2, p. 235 257. United Nations, 1995, Shelter Provision. Uy, Willie, 2006, Medium-Rise Housing: The Philippine Experience, Presentation Paper for the 5th Asian Forum. Wardrip, Keith, L. Williams and S. Hague, 2011, The Role of Affordable Housing in Creating Jobs and Stimulating Local Economic Development: A Review of the Literature, Center for Housing Policy. Is Prostitution a Victimless Crime? Essay Is Prostitution a Victimless Crime? Essay Prostitution, as described by the Merriam-Websters Dictionary (1997), is the selling of sexual favors for money or the devoting of oneself or ones talent to an unworthy cause (p. 589). In another frame of reference, prostitution has been called a victimless crime. What exactly is a victimless crime? Wests Encyclopedia of American defines it as: crime where there is no apparent victim and no apparent pain or injury. This class of crime usually involves only consenting adults in activities such as prostitution, sodomy, and gambling where the acts are not public, no one is harmed, and no one complains of the activities (2008). This classic definition of these types of crime implies there is not any victim of the criminal behavior who experiences harm. From a theoretical perspective, conflict theorists may hold that victimless crimes are established as a type of social control over morality by politically powerful people or groups who find them offensive or undesirable while functional theorists may hold that social needs, not societal power, are the underlying condition of labeling victimless behaviors as criminal (Greek, C.E., 2005). Why are some consensual acts considered illegal while others are not? McWilliams (1996) asserts consensual activities prohibitions and restrictions have their basis in religion while ODonnell (2000) in addressing the price of victimless crime laws, proposes those crime laws are a form of morality control and religious persecution that uphold the opinions of the law-controlling majority with regards to race, ethnicity and political stances. The issue in victimless crimes is that society has created laws to prohibit certain types of conduct considered to be against the public interest and when supposed victims freely consent to be the victim in one of these crimes; the question is whether the state should make an exception from the law for the situation. For the purpose of this paper, prostitution and the issues of concern in the legalization of this victimless crime is explored. Upon examining prostitution as a victimless crime, it seems evident there are victims at some level but most of the harm seems to be self-inflicted. Looking at the puzzle of the involved behaviors, having sex and asking for money, each by themselves are perfectly legal. Having sex with someone, even an unknown person is legal, and asking for money is legal but, when the two behaviors are linked into one single instance, a criminal act results. The two separate legal behaviors cannot constitute an illegal behavior for if no person is harmed, or if harm occurs by informed consent of the willing parties, how can it be considered a criminal act? One arguable stance presented is that consensual acts are not without risk and when adults consent to take part in the acts, why should the resulting action be deemed criminal by legal social rules? What kinds of problems can the law solve and what kind of problems does the law create? Among the many proponents of de-criminalizing victimless crimes the concept of unconstitutionality is consistently cited (Hardaway, 2000; McWilliams, 1998; ODonnell, 2000; National Platform of the Libertarian Party, 2002). A prominent vocal critic of criminalizing these termed victimless crimes, such as prostitution, is Robert Hardaway. Hardaway is a professor of Law at the University of Denvers School of Law who has written and co-written numerous texts and articles on legal and community interest matters. Hardaways 2003 book, No Price Too High: Victimless Crimes and the Ninth Amendment, as cited by Cox in a 2004 review, presents a powerful and strongly-argued perspective which argues the criminalization of victimless crimes violate the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution (2004). Cox notes the criminalization of these crimes as well as amount of money it takes to enforce the laws are unsound policies according to Hardaway. Although, in the case of drugs, crime against property and person are related to drug use, Hardaway, per Cox (2004), attributes the harm of drug use to the laws rather than the use of drugs themselves. According to Cox, Hardaway uses the example of Prohibition to explain the supply and demand concept of the argument stating: crime and violence do not emanate from some physiological effect of the drug, but the drug laws themselves and with the decriminalization of drugs, neighborhood drug dealers would be put out of business effectively breaking the business-end of organized crime (105). Hardaway further posits, according to Cox, legalizing personal vices is justified by a considered weighing of the costs and consequences of criminalization (30), (2004). ProCon.org has a website which addresses the issue of whether or not prostitution should be legalized and many statements were provided on this website of both the pro and con sides of the issue: No persons human or civil rights should be violated on the basis of their trade, occupation, work, calling, or profession [Prostitution Education Network, 1996]; prostitution violates the right to physical and moral integrityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦violates the prohibition of torture and of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.. [Hoffman, C., 1997]; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦prostitution laws areà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a violation of the right of individual privacy because they impose penal sanctions for the private sexual conduct of consenting adultsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [American Civil Liberties Union, 2007]; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦few activities are as brutal and damaging to people as prostitutionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [U.S. Department of State, 2004] (ProCon, 2009). Of all opposition members, the most prominent is Melissa Farley, a research and clinical psychologist at the San Francisco non-profit organization, Prostitution Research and Education. Farley has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on the subject (Farley, M., 2006). Farleys numerous research articles provide a well-rounded look at the subject matter of prostitution, the sex industry, exploitation of women, as well as the myriad of troubling issues arising from when men purchase women in prostitution. In the 2006 article, Prostitution, Trafficking, and Cultural Amnesia: What We Must Not Know in Order to Keep the Business of Sexual Exploitation Running Smoothly, Farley posits prostitution is sexual violence that results in massive economic profit for some of its perpetrators and is a much like slavery in that it is a lucrative form of oppression (p. 102). Farley goes further to remark on prostitutions legal status (legal, illegal, zoned, or decriminalized) or the location of the ac tivity (strip club, massage parlor, street, and escort/home/hotel) the danger to women is still tremendous (p. 103). Farleys discussion on the peer-reviewed literature which documents the violence so prevalent in prostitution and states: Violence is commonplace in prostitution whether it is legal or illegal (p. 106). Citing a Canadian commission on prostitution and pornography which reported the death rate of women in prostitution as forty times higher than that of the general population and a 2001 Vancouver prostitution research study by Cler-Cunningham and Christensen which reported a thirty-six percent incident of attempted murder, Farley contends prostitution can be lethal (p. 107). Farleys detailed look at legalized and illegal prostitution can impact the perception of the sex industry as a whole. However, within the United States Constitutions first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, are provisions which may present a strong argument for abolishing criminalizing prostitution and other victimless crimes. The First, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments are of particular interest in this dialogue of supporting the decriminalization of prostitution. Although victimless crimes such as prostitution are not specifically addressed in the Constitution there seems to be an arguable position that victimless crime laws violate First Amendment restrictions against laws respecting an establishment of religion especially since religious and moral values seem to provide the foundation for many of the laws. The Fourth Amendments provisions on search and seizure seems to be violated by such devices as warrantless search and seizures which are often utilized to obtain evidence for prosecutorial purposes. The privacy of innocents can be threatened as enforcement of the law requires police and investigators to engage in extensive monitoring, wiretapping, and surveillance of suspects and the public. Some people believe that these warrantless search and seizures and victimless crime laws are a means of political power over selected portions of the population which are unequally enforced against the poor and minorities thereby violating the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment (Kruttscnitt, 1984; McWilliams, 1998; Nussbaum, OConnell, 2000; 1999; Schur, 1971, 1980, 1983). The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution has direct bearing on such modern day constitutional issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the right to die. Farber (2007) considers the Ninth Amendment the key to understanding the liberties Americans were to enjoy under the Constitution as envisioned by the Founding Fathers describes the purpose of the Ninth Amendment and the Founders intent: to protect the rights the Founders assumed but failed to enumerate or specify in the Bill of Rights. Like the rest of the original Bill of Rights, per Farber, the Ninth Amendment only limits federal power rather than state government powers. The Fourteenth Amendment came along later and addressed the state government and within that Amendment the Privileges or Immunities Clause is paired with the Ninth Amendment (Lash, 2004; Farber, 2007). America is in first place in the world for the number of incarcerated individuals as highlighted by a Pew Center report that found 1 in every 100 American adults are behind bars with its prison population having tripled in the last 20 years. Spending on prisons has more than quadrupled and the American taxpayers are slowly crushed by this wasteful spending. At an average cost of over $19,000 per prisoner, taxpayers are facing a bill of over $44 billion per year to keep people locked away (Pew, 2004). Coinciding with this rising prison population is the increase in the number of private prisons which increased from five in 1995 to 100 in 2005. Herivel and Wright ( ) in their book Prison Profiteers-Who Makes Money From Mass Incarceration reports private prison industry has seen increased profits and lobbied extensively for more frequent and longer prison sentences and traces the flow of monies designated for the public good and ends up in the pockets of enterprises dedicated to keeping prison cells filled (From their book jacket). History has shown that criminalizing victimless crimes will drive the practice underground where violence, extortion, and coercion are most likely to thrive. This was particularly noticed when the 18th Amendment and later the Volstead Act, 1919, which made it illegal to manufacture or sell beer, wine, or other intoxicating malt or vinous liquors it was not illegal to possess it for personal use. The prohibition, originally intended to reduce beer consumption in particular, actually a failure and ended up increasing hard liquor consumption and created a new business, bootlegging, defined as the unlawful manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages without registration or payment of taxes which became widespread and a staple of organized crime (Prohibition). Almost every individual has the ability and moral capacity to judge what is helpful or harmful to them and it does not make sense for other people to dictate what choices should be made. When individuals commit acts harmful to themselves, the action should be termed as immoral, not illegal. The criminalization for the act of prostitution should not be determined by social effects of an individuals actions or by the moral or religious views of society. Every person needs freedom to make choices and accept the consequences for without these consequences, growth and experiential development will be hindered. If an adult man-or an adult woman, wants to engage in sexual relations with another adult man or woman who charges a fee for his or her services, they should be able to do so without the fear of being guilty of a crime. It does not mean that prostitution should not be subjected to certain legal requirements such as health laws. Removing prostitution from criminal statutes and providing a designation as a business entity subjected to business requirements, prostitution can be taxed, sex workers can obtain health and safety rights other employees have, and problems of abuse and graft associated with police jurisdiction of such a business can be dealt with more effectively with better protection from violence and abuse for those individuals who work within the industry. In a 2001 article written for the New Zealand Herald, Sue Bradford, MA, Member of New Zealands Parliament says it best: prostitution has been a career option for some people since history began. Nothing any law has done has changed or will change thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I believe we would all be better off to accept the job choice that some adults make as valid and worthy of care and compassion for all our sakes (2001). Work Cited Bradford, S. (2001). Dialogue: Sex workers deserve protection of the law. New Zealand Herald. July 30, 2001. 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