Ipad vs. Galaxy Tablet

When you want to surf the Internet, what gadgets do you most commonly use: laptop computers, smart phones, or cell phones? Nowadays, many people have smart phones and laptops. However, we now also have access to tablets. So now we will compare two of the newest most commonly used tablets. One is the new iPad, manufactures by Apple, and the other is the Galaxy tablet note 10. 1, by Samsung. The tablets are quite expensive, the iPad is however priced at $629 and the galaxy note is $499. Both are high-resolution tablets.One can get normal usage out of the two if the batteries are fully charged. The main difference lies in the operating software and various other features, one being iOS whereas the latter is android. First of all we will examine the size. The new iPad is 9. 50 inches high and 7. 31 inches wide. On the other hand, the Galaxy note is 10. 3 inches high and 7. 1 inches wide. Hence, the Galaxy note is a bit bigger than the iPad. These sizes are almost half of a laptop. But th e depths of the tablet are very different from a laptop.Galaxy note is a little thinner than the iPad. Moreover, there are great differences in their connections; the Galaxy note has a USB port whereas the iPad does not. The iPad supports 3G Internet, 4G Internet and Wi-Fi Internet, none of which are supported by the Galaxy note. Another important aspect of the two is their respective weights. The new iPad is 1. 44 pounds whereas the Galaxy note is 1. 31 pounds. These are like 20 oz. plastic bottles of water. This makes the iPad a little heavier than the Galaxy note.It is a small difference but it plays a big role because tablets are used frequently and are very useful. They are supposed to be portable for daily use and flexible usage. Finally, we will focus on their prices and critique some reviews. Both these devices have a rating of 4. 5. However, the Galaxy note is priced at a reasonable rate and is more affordable. According to phonearena. com â€Å"From a distance, the two lo ok similar to one another, but once we’re able to grasp both in our hands, the new iPad is able to deliver the impactful wow factor thanks to its premium feel.Well, it’s not to say that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10. 1 isn’t a bad looker, especially when it’s the lighter and slightly thinner tablet, but its all-plastic body doesn’t have the allure to match the impeccable industrial design of the iPad. † After analyzing all these facts I would say that the iPad is any day better because of its superior features and premium construction. However, it’s a person choice which one they prefer to use as the Galaxy is no far behind in the market either.It all depends on the person’s comfort level and personal choice. In conclusion, As per my personal opinion I would choose the iPad first but since it’s a little more expensive I would be inclined to choose the Galaxy note. We have to consider company value and accessories when choosin g a new gadget. We should also check out reviews on amazon. com and other ‘technology geeks’ websites to have a better understanding of what we are spending our money on.

Relationships with Government Regulators and Policymakers Essay

No, I did not believe that Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx. Vioxx is a prescription medicine used to relieve signs and symptoms of arthritis, acute pain in adults and painful menstrual cycle and Merck was one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical firms. Corporate social responsibility means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. I didn’t believe Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx is because Merck had long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most ethical and socially responsible of the major drug companies. Drug development and testing Merck was renowned for its research labs, which had a decades-long record of achievement, turning out one innovation after another, including drugs for cholesterol, hypertension, tuberculosis and other. In product development and testing, scientists know Vioxx there are serious health risks and the drug may have side effects such as cardiovascular complications but scientists think that the lives that could have potentially been and now know that the effects of the medication can improve then change and it can minimize the harmful side effects. During the development and testing phase for Vioxx has many issues regarding the safety of the drug were questioned due to the many cases of heart attacks and strokes resulting from the medication but also have people think heart attacks and strokes were common and they had multiple causes, including genetic predisposition, smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyles. Marketing and advertising This was new in the pharmaceutical industry as it was the first time the FDA were allowed to advertise to consumers and the advertising technique of Vioxx that was used was thru direct-to-consumer. Merck used an Olympic figure skater as the primary character within their commercials and telling viewers that she would â€Å"not let arthritis stop me.† The drug companies defended DTC ads, saying they informed consumers of newly available therapies and encouraged people to seek medical treatment so consumers then would request this medication, making doctors feel obliged to prescribe. Drug company focused most of their marketing efforts on prescribing physicians and as a result of this fiasco, implications for big pharmaceutical firms like Merck are clear, they have take more time to conduct more clinical studies and assess the health risks associated with the drugs even if it means a delay in the entry of the drug into the market. Relationships with government regulators and policymakers Vioxx were regulated by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and work of FDA is whether or not to approve a new drug. Some evidence suggested that the morale of FDA staff charged with evaluating the safety of new medicine had been hurt by relentless pressure to bring drugs to market quickly. The government and policymakers received large sums of money from the development company during the advertising phase and market introduction. The Agency has not had an opportunity to review the data from the study that was stopped in the depth that Merck has, but agrees with the company that there appear to be significant safety concerns for patients, particularly those taking the drug chronically and FDA plans to work closely with Merck to coordinate the withdrawal of this product from the US market. Handling of the recall Merck announced a voluntary worldwide withdrawal of Vioxx. From the published evidence of Vioxx is crystal clear risk of heart attack, as early as in the late 1990s, the company should be aware of risk awareness and the company’s internal documents confirmed the the company’s awareness of the risks. Yet Merck continued not only to sell the drug, but to market it heavily and as a first line choice, not merely for those thought to be at higher risk of stomach bleeding. Merck decisions and judgments of certain problems with Vioxx’s launch can be faulted. They are either ignored or dismissed early signs of an increased risk of heart attack, whether it is in their own research and other post, trying to get to market faster. This proved to be deadly further studies in line with the concerns, and lead ultimately to lead to another wrong decision to recall the drug from the market and Merck would have hoped for, instead they lost the market of customers who would still h ave taken Vioxx in spite of the risks.

Argumentative Essay: Abortion

English 101 9 Dec 2010 The End before the Beginning Is abortion murder? Should abortion be illegal? Abortion is something that is not overlooked, but not exactly given the proper attention it should have. Abortion causes a lot chaos today. Abortion is a process where the mother kills the fetus. Sometimes there are understandable reasons for these actions, but then some women feel they aren’t ready to be a mother. If abortion wasn’t an option then what would the women do? How could they get rid†¦ Discursive essay - Abortion Abortion is a process viewed differently throughout the world. Usually happening in the first twenty four weeks. It is the process in which a pregnancy is terminated some of the reasons why people can have very different opinions on the topic is due to the religion they follow, the morals they believe in or the background they come from. It is certainly true that there are varied types of abortion. The type received depends on how far along the pregnancy is. One type†¦ Argumentative Essay 5 I should have focused more on my grades this year. By attending many social events, waiting until the last minute to complete work, and refusing to study my grades began to drop. I feel that if I would have put more effort into my school work I would have achieved the grades I am capable of getting. By hanging out with friends and putting off work my grades gradually began to drop. Your senior year is not the year to slack off in; it would have better prepared me for college†¦ Argumentative Essay Should we always tell the truth? Do you always tell the truth or lies? You are not likely to reply immediately because this question is very extreme. While we live, we cannot always tell the truth, and we also cannot always tell lies. May be, it will depend on the situation that you encountered. There are innumerable reasons why most people tell lies to others. Usually, we tell lies to hide own fault or show off ourselves. There are a little bit different lies, of course†¦ Argu1nentative Essays Mani stones, Nepal An argumentative essay is an essay in which you agree or disagree with an issue, using reasons to support your opinion. Your goal is to convince your reader that your opinion is right. Argumentation is a popular kind of essay question because it forces students to think on their own: They have to take a stand on an issue, support their stand with solid reasons, and support their reasons with solid evidence. In a general writing test such as the TOEFL†¦ Evaluation Essay Argumentative essays work to convince an audience that the writer 's point of view on a subject is the correct one, and to persuade the audience to agree with the author’s viewpoint. The author must provide evidence and appeal to his or her readers. â€Å"Parents Should Be Allowed to Control What Kids Watch†, an article by Leland Y. Yee is an argumentative essay explaining why parents should monitor the games their kids play and the TV shows they watch, and the consequences of not doing†¦ Argumentative Essay Planned Parenthood Millions of women across America will struggle to receive the medical attention they need if the federal government stops funding to Planned Parenthood. Every year 363 million dollars goes into the funding â€Å"pot† collectively at Planned Parenthood’s nationwide (Clark 5). This money is used predominantly by women; for six in ten women, Planned Parenthood acts as their main source of health care (Clark 4). Many individuals with low incomes depend on these clinics†¦ Argumentative Essay The function of an argumentative essay is to show that your assertion (opinion, theory, and hypothesis) about some phenomenon or phenomena is correct or more truthful than others'. The art of argumentation is not an easy skill to acquire. Many people might think that if one simply has an opinion, one can argue it successfully, and these folks are always surprised when others don't agree with them because their logic seems so correct. Argumentative writing is the act of forming†¦ Argumentative Essay Braden Rawson Social Networking or the use of specific websites or applications to interact with other users is one of the many key and driving factors today in our world. We find ourselves lost for many minutes or possibly hours at a time on any particular app or website. Looking deeper into the issue of social networking and its impact on our life, I highly doubt we have accomplished anything at all. A very smart man once said, â€Å"Time is money.† If that quote is true do we†¦ Mary Townsend Med. Lit. Mrs. Averbeck February 27, 2016 On January 22, 1973 the United States Supreme Court made a 7 - 2 decision to legalize abortion in most of the fifty states. Although abortion was not legal in the past it was being preformed on women since the fifteenth century all over the globe, but, most women did not survive the surgery. That is the biggest reason it was preformed in secret because it was taking so many lives. Thanks to modern day medicine and technology the success†¦

Competitive Advantage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Competitive Advantage - Research Paper Example From the essay it is clear that competitive advantage is likely to be achieved through different avenues that include the offering of superior quality products or services. Some of these practices involve the lowering of prices as well as raising the efforts in the market. A competitive advantage that is sustainable is one that maintains a favourable position above others over a long period of time which is vital in boosting its image in the marketplace. Furthermore its valuations together with future earning potentials are also put into consideration. As the discussion stresses competitive advantage is divided into two, namely comparative advantage (also known as cost advantage) as well as differential advantage. Comparative advantage is the capacity of producing good products or services at lower costs that business rivals. It gives a business firm the propensity to selling goods along with services at relatively reduced prices in comparison to the competition or generating large sale margins. Differential advantage on the other hand is founded when the products or services of a firm differ from those of the competitors and are perceived as better compared to those of the competitors. Organizations in high PDs are centralized with strong hierarchies and big gaps in terms of compensation and authority, while low PD places supervisors as well as employees are seen as equal. In the former, it is important to acknowledge authority of leaders and the latter requires one to employ teamwork.

Ethical issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Ethical issues - Essay Example This principle is considerate of the existing laws in a society with the aim of ensuring harmonious coexistence among members of a society. An ethical decision under ethical formalism would therefore be focused on the motive behind an act. Utilitarianism, another ethical principal in judgment, focuses, on the contrary, to the consequences of an act as opposed to the intention of the defendant. This principle goes beyond an individual defendant to consider the effects of the defendant’s actions on the society. Based on the principle, decisions should be made with considerations of future impacts of the case on the society with preference being to ensure maximum happiness among every member of the society (Pollock, 2011). The case involves two defendants suspected of burglary. Utilitarianism will be the most suitable ethical principle in this scenario. This is because the defendants are a possible threat to the society and the impact of their suspected crime together with their future existence in the society is more significant as compared to their intentions for committing the alleged crime and during

How do different background influence workplace communication and Assignment

How do different background influence workplace communication and understanding - Assignment Example These rely on clearly spelling out rules, instructions, expectations and directions. A lot of importance is connected with following instructions to the letter. High-context communications rely on interpersonal relationships with fellow workmates in order to bring out societal expectations and rules. In other words, high-context communications rely on other people to direct them. With high-context communication, the employees expect the supervisors to enforce important rules personally. In workplaces where there are employees from both high and low context communication backgrounds, interpersonal communications may prove to be difficult, and the following up of instructions as they are intended may be extremely poor. Employees from cultures accustomed to high-context communications benefit more from fellow employees or supervisors direct instruction while employees accustomed to low-context communications can simply absorb the instructions from written materials such as training manuals just as

Individual Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Individual Assignment - Essay Example The geographical concentration of production units which was once part of the developed world such as US, UK and other parts of the Europe is now clearly finding its way towards cheaper and sustainable production locations across the globe. What is critical to note and understand however, is the fact that automobile industry has remained also one of the symbols of national pride for the developed economies. US and other economies have virtually developed with the development of their automobile industry and it was also because of this reason that after the financial crisis of 2008, US government injected large amount of money into the automobile industry in order to help it survive the recession. Though the traditional concept of nation-state is linked with the geographical area from where political legitimacy as a sovereign state can be driven however, the overall concept has changed over the period of time. (Ersoy, 2010).   Since the advent of globalization, it has been advocated that world has become border less and the role of State has either been vanished or is minimized to the best. This however, has not been the case as State and the concept of nation-state has survived over the period of time. (Dicken, 2007) In traditional sense, a State is usually a political and geographical entity whereas the nation is more of a cultural concept. The nation-state therefore is a concept which combines both the concepts and suggests that nation-state can be formulated at different times and different places in the world. A nation-state therefore has an official language, its own legal system, issues a currency, and makes use of bureaucracy to order the overall society. A nation-state also extracts the legitimacies and loyalties for abstract entity called State. (McNeely, 1995) The advent of globalization has resulted into a gradual decline in the power of State to work

Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and Essay - 1

Financial Accounting has become increasingly standardised and harmonized across organizations in different industries, while Management Accounting continues to be highly variable - Essay Example The following paragraphs will explain in detail why there MUST be a compulsory implementation of harmonized accounting standards in financial accounting (Leuz, Pfaff, and Hopwood 3). Both approaches reflect the different purpose and role of financial and management accounting to the extent that is required for quality decision making activities. The users of financial statements will need the latest copy of the balance sheet to determine the total amount of assets that the company owns. The assets are the resources of the company. The assets include both the current as well as the non -current assets. Current assets include cash, receivables from customers and subsidiaries, inventory end, office supplies, office equipment, land, buildings, factory equipment and other assets. Likewise, the users of the financial statements are interested to get a copy of the latest balance sheet in order to know the total liabilities or payables of the company. The liabilities include both the current liabilities and long term liabilities. In addition, the users of the financial statements need the balance sheet in order to determine the total stockholders equity section. Further, the users of the financial statements need the latest copy with the possibility of obtaining the prior year or years financial statements to determine how much the company has generated in terms of sales and cost of sales. This data is found in the income statement. the income statement shows the total amount of gross profit, administrative and marketing expenses. Likewise, the users of the financial statements will need the statement of cash flows to determine where the cash inflows and cash outflows had gone to during the accounting period. Usually, the accounting period covers a twelve month period. Further, the following discussion of the Enron scandal will give a deeper reflection of the different different purpose and role of financial accounting to the extent that is required for quality

How can the knowledge of first-language articulation interference Essay

How can the knowledge of first-language articulation interference positively affect the educational or work setting - Essay Example With most forms of communication in educational cycles and the labor force being through either written or spoken language, it is very important that all people equip themselves with a kind of language with which these forms of communication will be conveyed. Unfortunately, we are not always privileged to take instructions at school and in the work place via the first language. Some of the factors that cause this include migration and the need to work under superiors who speak a different language. In such circumstance, the most likely option that becomes left is the need to adapt to a second language. Happily, idea of a first language would already make the effort to learn the second language easier. Again, it is possible to undertake personal research and general studies in a first language so that transfer of idea is done into the second language for further interpretation. Finally, one of the positive effects includes the fact that language acquisition is not just about the abili ty to speak and write but that the ability to gain general communication skills such as the use of gestures, manners and courtesies. Once a person can do all these in a first language, it becomes easier to transfer these other components of communication at school or at the work

Google Inc Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Google Inc Case Study - Essay Example The growth in Google had been witnessed on basing the CPC bids against the duration of actual CTR (Click-through rate) (Edelman and Eisenmann 3). The provision developed the system to accord Google the ability to present the most relevant ads a higher stature as compared to the least influential ads. Google managed to increase the revenues with the system that saw the company contain ads with high CPC bid against a decreased CTR that presented minimal revenue. Furthermore, as compared to Overture, the company did not conduct marketing campaigns that saw an increased 24.5 million user group attracting leading companies like AOL (Edelman and Eisenmann 3). The network also attracted advertisers with the presentation of advance search traffic with minimal CPC bids. Google had to articulate other advertisement measures because the online ad campaigns would grow less popular with the increasing complains from the customers. These measures were also susceptible to hackers as compared to traditional media that offered more security. Furthermore, the company needed to establish its dominance in the market through the acquisition of capital ventures like YouTube in 2006. Through the introduction of the added channels, Google boasted of an increased user group surfacing competition from other leading companies like Yahoo. To maintain the witnessed growth, Google should retain the focus on the line of operation and advance the search solutions via targeted advertising. The expansion in advertising would utilize added methods in advertising beyond the World Wide Web. These are realized in print, mobile, and other traditional advertising measures. Google should also focus on expanding into a full portal as depicted by rival companies in Yahoo and MSN.

Some Common Leadership Styles Essay Example for Free

Some Common Leadership Styles Essay Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of some common leadership styles and evaluate how modern managers can best implement them to deal with the challenges they face in the 21st century. Todays increasingly competitive, dynamic business landscape requires the ability to change, evaluate, and implement new courses of action (Bucic, Ramburuth and Robinson, 2010: 228-248). The importance of the leadership and its significant impact on the businesss performance , productivity of the organization and turnover is clear for most business people and scholars. It is a subject that has long excited interest among people (Yukl, 2010: 19). In addition, it has been classified in many different ways. However, this essay intends to explore only the advantages and disadvantages of charismatic and transformational style. Furthermore, it looks at how todays leaders can exploit these styles so as to overcome the 21st century challenges. Charismatic leaders can be defined as those who have high self-confidence, a clear vision, engage in unconventional behavior, and act as a change agent, while remaining realistic about environmental constraints. Their key behaviors include role modeling, image building, articulation of goals, showing confidence and arousing follower’s motives (McLaurin and Al Amri, 2008: 15). Although charismatic style has a lot of positive points, it has some negatives as well. Charismatic leaders can have a powerful stimulus on an organization, but the consequences are not always advantageous. The personalized power orientation of these leaders can make them insensitive, manipulative, domineering, impulsive and defensive. They emphasize devotion to themselves rather than to ideological goals. Charismatic leaders tend to make more perilous decisions that can result in a serious failure (Yukl, 2010: 294). The world has seen some great charismatic leaders in its history namely, President John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. A second style of leadership is transformational which is an expansion of transactional leadership (Avolio and Bass, 2002: 42). These leaders are those who stimulate interest among followers to view their work from new perspectives, generate awareness of the vision of the organization, develop followers to higher levels of ability and potential, and motivate colleagues and followers to look beyond their own interests toward those that will  benefit the group. Although transformational style may sounds powerful and be the most favorable to driving safety, it has some drawbacks too. Transformational style is not as operational in cases where followers are not experienced enough. It could also be very time consuming. As a result, it is not suitable in crisis a genuine emergency or high-pressure economy, where time is valuable. The 21st century with its fast changing and erratic environment in the business world, requires leaders to be more effective. In order to be more successful in current atmosphere and to deal with politico-socio-economic challenges, leaders should use a combination of types of leadership. In other words, moving among styles will help them to achieve their goals more efficiently (Goleman, 2000). For some theorists, it is the essence of leadership and everything else is secondary (Yukl, 2010: 296). In conclusion, the last two decades of the twentieth and now the early part of the twenty-first century presented organizations with unparalleled levels of uncertainty, turbulence, rapid change, and intense competition. Many organizations are struggling with the need to manage chaos, to undergo internal cultural change, to reinvent their businesses, to restructure their organizations, to adopt or invent new technologies, to reduce organizational boundaries, to discover the path to continuous improvement, to globalize their operations, and to invent high involvement organization and management systems (Yukl, 2010). In the face of such challenges, the transformational and charismatic leader, sometimes referred to as the visionary or inspirational leader, represents a style of leadership that may be capable of facilitating adaptation to a changing environment and navigating organizations through the chaos of the twenty-first century. (Jon L.Pierce, 2008: 337) Reference List: Avolio, B.J. and Bass, B.M. (2002) Developing Potential Across a Full Range of Leadership, New jersey: Lawrence Ebrlbaum Associates, Inc. Bucic, T., Ramburuth, P. and Robinson, L. (2010) Effects of leadership style on team learning, Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 22, no. 4, Jan, pp. 228-248. Chaudhry, A.Q. and Javed, H. (2012) Impact of Transactional and Laissez Faire Leadership Style on Motivation, International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 3, no. 7, April, pp. 258-264. Goleman, D. (2000) Leadership that gets results, Business And Economics, Business And EconomicsBanking And Finance, vol. 78, no. 2, Mar/Apr, pp. 78-90, Available: http://search.proquest.com/docview/227837312?accountid=15390. Jon L.Pierce, J.W.N. (2008) Leaders the Leadership Process, 5th edition, McGraw-Hill. McLaurin, J.R. and Al Amri, M.B. (2008) Developing an understanding of charismatic and transformational leadership, Allied Academies International Conference, Reno, 15-19. Yukl, G. (2010) Leadership in Organizations, 7th edition, New Jersey: Pearson.

Detroit bankruptcy Essay Example for Free

Detroit bankruptcy Essay The City of Detroit bankruptcy is a historical event since the city of Detroit is one of the largest cities ever filed for bankruptcy. However, the court trial will decide after considering all the facts and testimonials, if City of Detroit will qualify for bankruptcy. City of Detroit has filed for bankruptcy mainly because of financial factors such as expenditures were higher than revenues, the high level of debts and bad management. In the audit report issued for the 2012 there were many qualified and adverse opinions with regards to the financial statements. The fact that City of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, as hard as it might be, would give the city a new start and a new way of managing and thinking. This city needs restructuring and functioning under a new economic vitality. By developing new strategic plans such as new employment opportunities and offering reliable services for its residents and businesses, city of Detroit will regain its role in the economic vitality of Michigan. The economy of Detroit plays a key role in the economic development of Michigan. City of Detroit is known as the Motor City for the innovations in the auto industry but also for its goal diversifications into emerging fields such as information technology and advanced manufacturing. Encouraging advantage are the different tax incentive programs that city of Detroit offers. For example, Detroit Renaissance Zone Tax includes a waiver of city income and utility users taxes, most city property taxes, county property taxes. The program applies to businesses that will conduct business within the area and are not delinquent in any local, county or state taxes and once qualified there is no need to reapply. Should our corporation consider being part of big changes in Detroit and consider the benefit of tax incentives, I would be happy to further assist in this initiative.

Effect of Remittances on Household Consumption Patterns

Effect of Remittances on Household Consumption Patterns Do remittances affect the consumption pattern of the Filipino households? Objectives The objective of this paper is to formulate structural models to illustrate the change in consumption pattern of the Filipino households. In this study, our aim is to use an advanced econometric approach to find out if there is indeed such change in the consumption pattern of the household receiving remittances as compared to those who only get their income from domestic sources. Review of Related Literature There are several studies regarding the consumption patterns of household. One of which is the study made by Taylor and Mora (2006), they studied about the effect of migration in reshaping the expenditure of rural households in Mexico. The conclusion that they made is that remittances has positive effects on total expenditures and investment. They also found out that as the remittances of rural household increases, the proportion of the income on consumption decreases (Taylor Mora, 2006). Another one is the study of Rasyad A. Parinduri Shandre M. Thangavelu (2008), wherein they used the Indonesia Family Life Survey data to observe the effect of remittances to the consumption patterns of the Indonesian households. In their study, they used the matching and difference-in-difference matching estimators to observe the relationship. They found out that remittances do not improve the living standard of the households, nor do remittances have an effect on economic development. They used t he education and medical expenditure as indicators of economic development. The major findings that they have are that most of the Indonesian households used the remittances in terms of investing them into luxury goods such as house and jewelries (Parinduri Thangavelu, 2008). Using the same study, we intend to observe the consumption pattern of the households, based not only on the remittances but also to other sources of income. In addition to that, instead of looking at economic development, we intend to look at the consumption goods that households normally consume, and see if there are indeed changes in the consumption patterns of the selected households. Theoretical Framework Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law Methodology and Data In the methodology and data part, our main concern is to find ways to observe the consumption patterns of the Filipino households here in this country. In order to do that, we tried to find a dataset that will explain such relationship. Based from the available datasets here in the country, we would say that the Family Income and Expenditure Survey or the FIES best suits our study. The dataset enlists all the possible consumption goods that were being consumed by the households during a specific year. In addition to that, we can also determine the source of income of the different households that was made available in the dataset. By examining the relationship of consumption and income, we will be able to observe the behavioral aspect of the Filipino householdsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ consumption based from the income that they received. Due to the inaccessibility of the latest data, we settled for the 2003 edition. Based on this data, we will be able to observe the impact of the different sources of income to the kind of goods that the Filipino families consume, using an advanced econometric approach called the simultaneous equation model (SEM). After acquiring the right dataset for this study, we must next formulate the different structural equations to illustrate the consumption patterns. In this paper, we have formulated four equations, one of which is based from the Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law, which again, states that when an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income increases, his/her percentage of consumption decreases (Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law, n.d.). As for the other three other equations which are mainly composed of different sources of income, mainly wages, domestic source, and foreign source, we have used other studies conducted by (SOURCE) ,to see what are the factors that affects or determine the different sources of income. After formulating the equations, we decided to use the log-log model for the estimation, simply because our study aims to observe the income elasticity of the different goods. With the use of the log-log model, we will be able to determine the elasticity of the different consumption goods, by just looking at their respective estimated coefficients. Another reason why we chose the log-log model is because of the limited information about the domestic and foreign source of income in the FIES data. There are several households in the data who either do not receive domestic or foreign source of income, or the data gatherers failed to obtain these data from the respective respondents. By using the log-log model, we will be able to exclude those unrecorded observations, so that the results will be not inconsistent and will not be affected by the people who do not receive income from either domestic or foreign source. After citing the reasons for the construction of the model, next, we will be observing three consumption goods, particularly the total food expenditures, the total non food expenditures, and the tobacco-alcohol consumption. Model 1: Food Consumption Equation 1: Equation 2: Equation 3: Equation 4: Where: food = total food expenditures Condo = domestic source of income Conab = foreign source of income Wage = wages or salaries of the household Wsag = wages or salaries from agricultural activities Wsnag = wages or salaries from non-agricultural activities S1021_age = household head age S1041_hgc = household head highest grade completed S1101_employed = total number of family employed with pay Lc10_conwr = contractual worker indicator In order to observe the consumption patterns of the Filipino household based from the different sources of income, we will be modifying the first equation of the model, by replacing one good to the other good, while maintaining the same structural forms. For example, in the initial first model, we have chosen food expenditure as our first consumption good. Later on, we will be observing other consumption goods such as non food expenditure, and alcoholic tobacco-alcohol consumption, and we will replace the food consumption with these other goods. This is because consumption goods are all affected by the income, and we have chosen the different income sources based from the availability of the FIES data, which was released on 2003. A-priori expectation Given the interrelationship of the equations, it seems like we have to solve the equations simultaneously to estimate for the unknown variables. Before we can use the simultaneous equation model (SEM) approach, there are several identification problems that we must solve in order to know whether SEM is an appropriate method or not. According to Gujarati and Porter (2009), the identification problem process consists of the following tests: a. order and rank condition, b. Hausman specification test, which is also known as the simultaneity test, and c. exogeneity test. Identification Problem Order and rank condition Before we proceed with the order and rank condition, we must first define the different variables that we will be using in order to test whether the equations are under-identified, exactly identified or over-identified. Legend: M à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of endogenous variables in the model m à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of endogenous variables in the equation K à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of exogenous/predetermined variables in the model k à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of exogenous/predetermined variables in the equation Order Condition The order condition is a necessary but not sufficient condition for identification (Gujarati and Porter, 2009). This test is used to see whether an equation is identified by comparing the number of excluded exogenous/predetermined variables in a given equation with the number of endogenous variables in the equation less one. There will be three instances where we can determine if the equation is identified or not. First, if K-k (number of excluded predetermined variables in the equation) In the first model, there are four endogenous variables namely lnfood, lnwages, lncondo, and lnconab (M=4). And there are also six exogenous variables in the equation which are the variables that were not named (K=6). With that, the order condition of the food consumption is illustrated below: Equation K-k m-1 Conclusion Lnfood 6 3 Over Lnwages 4 0 Over Lncondo 2 0 Over Lnconab 2 0 Over In the first case, all the equations are considered to be over-identified, simply because K-k > m-1. In the order condition, we have concluded that the model is identified. However, the order condition is not sufficiently enough to justify whether an equation is identified or not, that is why there is another condition that must be satisfied before we can proceed to the estimation process, which is the rank condition. Rank Condition The rank condition is a necessary and sufficient condition for identification. In order to satisfy the rank condition, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“there must be at least one nonzero determinant of order (M-1) (M-1) can be constructed from the coefficients of the variables excluded from that particular equation but included in the other equations of the modelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?(Gujarati and Porter, 2009). Ys Xs Eq. Food Wages condo conab 1 wssag wsnag hh_age hh_hgc employed conwr lnfood 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lnwages 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lncondo 0 0 1 0 0 0 Lnconab 0 0 0 1 0 0 We simplify the variableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s notation, but ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s basically the same as the variables in the model, it only lacks the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“lnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in some variables, and some variablesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ descriptions are shortened. We can observed that the (M-1) x (M-1), which in this case is 3 x 3 matrices, have at least one nonzero determinant, therefore the rank condition is satisfied. We can now proceed to the other identification test. Hausman specification test The Hausman specification test is to test whether the equations exhibits simultaneity problem or not. According to Gujarati and Porter (2009), if there is not simultaneity problem, then OLS is BLUE (best linear unbiased estimator). But if there is simultaneity problem, then OLS is not blue, because the estimated results will be bias and inconsistent. With that, we have to use the different estimation techniques of the SEM in order to regress the given equations. The Hausman specification test involves the following process: First, we regress an endogenous variable with respect to all of the exogenous/predetermined variables in the system, after which we obtain the value of the residual, in which it is the predictedThe second step is to regress the endogenous variable with respect to the other endogenous variables plus the predicted . If the is statistically significant, this means that we have all the evidence to reject the null hypothesis, which states that there is no simultaneity bias in the model. But if it is insignificant, we have no evidence to reject the null hypothesis, and if that happens, there is no simultaneity problem. The variable that exhibits no simultaneity bias should not be treated as an endogenous variable. (Gujarati and Porter, 2009) Dependent variable: lnwages P-values Independent variables: lncondo 0.370 lnconab 0.014 uhat 0.000 For the simultaneity test in the first model, we follow the steps in the Hausman specification test. After that, we observed the predicted uhat in this regression and we can see that the predicted uhat here is 0.000. This means that the null hypothesis is rejected, and there exist simultaneity bias in the first model, therefore we should use other estimation techniques other than OLS, to produce unbiased and consistent estimates. Exogeneity test After the simultaneity test, we must also test for the other exogenous/predetermined variables, to check whether these variables are truly exogenous or not. The process is similar to the Hausman specification test, but instead of regressing the endogenous variables, we regress each exogenous/predetermined variable with respect to the . If the is statistically significant, then we have to reject the null hypothesis that it is truly an exogenous variable. But if the p-value of the is 1.000, this means that we have no evidence to reject the null hypothesis, and we conclude that the corresponding variables are truly exogenous or truly predetermined variables. Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat Lnwsag 1.000 lnwsnag 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 3nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 4nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Based from the table given above, each exogenous variable is regressed against the predict uhat and looking at the respective p-values, which are all 1.000. This means that we have no evidence to reject that these variables are indeed truly exogenous variables in each of the equations. Model 2: Non Food Consumption Equation 1: Equation 2: Equation 3: Equation 4: Where: nonfood = total non food expenditure In model 2, we basically changed the total food expenditure with the total non food expenditure. Before we can regress the model, this model should also undergo series of identification problem process to see if whether the model is identified or not. We will also test if the nonfood expenditure model exhibits simultaneity bias and if all of its exogenous variables are truly exogenous. Order and Rank Condition Order Condition Equation K-k m-1 Conclusion Lnnonfood 6 3 Over Lnwages 4 0 Over Lncondo 2 0 Over Lnconab 2 0 Over Similar to the food consumption order condition, the non food consumption is also identified based on the order condition. All equations are concluded to be over-identified; therefore we can say that the model is identified. But again, we must use the rank condition to further validate if the equations are truly identified or not. Rank Condition Ys Xs Eq. nonfood wages condo conab 1 wssag wsnag hh_age hh_hgc employed conwr lnnonfood 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lnwages 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lncondo 0 0 1 0 0 0 lnconab 0 0 0 1 0 0 Based from the sub 33 matrices, we can say that there exists at least one nonzero determinant in the equation, therefore rank condition is satisfied. This means that the equations are identified. Hausman specification test Dependent variable: lnwages P-values Independent variables: lncondo 0.533 lnconab 0.011 uhat2 0.001 For the simultaneity test in model 2, we can see that uhat2 is statistically significant, meaning there exists a simultaneity bias in the model. Therefore we must use the SEM estimation techniques similar to model 1, to estimate the impact of income and consumption goods. Exogeneity test Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat2 Lnwsag 1.000 lnwsnag 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 3nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat2 s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 4nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat2 s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Similar to the food consumption model, the exogenous variables in the nonfood model are truly exogenous, since all the resulting p-values for uhat2, are all 1.000. Model 3: Tobacco-Alcohol Consumption Equation 1: Equation 2: Equation 3: Equation 4: Where: at = tobacco-alcohol consumption The same process in model 2 was made here in model 3, we now check for the identification problems for the tobacco-alcohol consumption Order and Rank Condition Order Condition Equation K-k m-1 Conclusion Lnat 6 3 Over Lnwages 4 0 Over Lncondo 2 0 Over Lnconab 2 0 Over Order condition is satisfied here in model 3, since all of the equations are concluded to be over-identification. We now proceed to the rank condition to check if the equations are ultimately identified. Rank Condition Ys Xs Eq. at wages condo conab 1 wssag wsnag hh_age hh_hgc employed conwr lnat 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lnwages 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lncondo 0 0 1 0 0 0 lnconab 0 0 0 1 0 0 Rank condition is satisfied because there is at least one nonzero determinant here in the sub 33 matrices. Hausman specification test Dependent variable: lnwages P-values Independent variables: lncondo 0.911 lnconab 0.063 uhat3 0.003 In model 3, there is no simultaneity problem because uhat3 is statistically significant. Therefore, we have all the evidence to reject the null hypothesis that there is no simultaneity bias in the equation. The same procedure as for food and nonfood model, we will be using the different estimation techniques to estimate these unknown variables. Estimation Techniques and Results Estimation Techniques After the identification problems of the simultaneous equation problem, we proceed to the estimation techniques. As discussed by Gujarati and Porter (2009), they provided three estimation techniques in order to solve for SEM, namely the ordinary least squares (OLS), indirect least squares (ILS), and the two-stage least squares (2SLS). The OLS is used for the recursive, triangular, or causal models (Gujarati and Porter, 2009). Meanwhile, the ILS focuses more on the reduced form of the simultaneous equations, wherein there exists only one endogenous variable in the reduced form equation and it is expressed in terms of all existing exogenous/predetermined variables in the model. It is estimated through the OLS approach, and this method best suits if the model is exactly identified (Gujarati and Porter, 2009). Lastly, the 2SLS approach, wherein the equations are estimated simultaneously. Unlike ILS, 2SLS can used to estimate exact and over-identified equations. (Gujarati and Porter, 2009 ) The three approaches discussed by Gujarati and Porter (2009) are all based from the single equation approach. If there are CLRM violations such as autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity in the models, we must use the system approach, particularly the three-stage least squares (3SLS), to correct these violations. The only drawback of the 3SLS method is that if any errors in one equation will affect the other equations. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Since all three models suffer from simultaneity bias, we will not use the OLS in this paper. This is because if we used the OLS in estimating the equation which there exist simultaneity bias, the results will be biased and inconsistent. Therefore, OLS is not a good estimator for the three models. Indirect Least Squares (ILS) Food consumption model reduced form: Where: | Nonfood model reduced form: Where: | Tobacco-Alcohol model reduced form: Where: | We will not estimate anymore the coefficient for the ILS, because our main goal is to observe the relationship of consumption goods with the different sources of income and not the other determinants of the different sources of income. The ILS results will not yield standard error for the structural coefficients; therefore it will be hard to obtain the values of the structural coefficients. In addition to that, all of our equations are over-identified, therefore ILS is an inappropriate method to estimate the coefficients. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) Consumption Goods Food (948 obs) Non Food (1078 obs) Tobacco-Alcohol (634 obs) 1st Equation Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 6.428484 (0.000) 1.401963 (0.070) 12.94298 (0.001) lnwages 0.2235283 (0.000) 0.2880426 (0.000) 0.7781965 (0.000) lncondo 0.0223739 (0.622) 0.2036453 (0.013) -1.47202 (0.000) lnconab 0.205797 (0.001) 0.5110999 (0.000) 0.6098058 (0.121) 2nd Eq. lnwages Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 2.122649 (0.000) 2.122649 (0.000) 1.884011 (0.000) lnwsag 0.3611279 (0.000) 0.3611279 (0.000) 0.42199 (0.000) lnwsnag 0.5175117 (0.000) 0.5175117 (0.000) 0.483135 (0.000) 3rd Eq. lncondo Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 7.75861 (0.000) 7.75861 (0.000) 7.887869 (0.000) s1021_age -0.0003422 (0.903) -0.0003422 (0.903) 0.0014345 (0.720) s1041_hgc 0.0346237 (0.000) 0.0346237 (0.000) 0.1302147 (0.000) s1101_employed -0.023387 (0.450) -0.023387 (0.450) -0.0601213 (0.111) lc10conwr 0.1583353 (0.345) 0.1583353 (0.345) 0.0871853 (0.710) 4th Eq. lnconab Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 10.39914 (0.000) 10.39914 (0.000) 9.947326 (0.000) s1021_age 0.004519 (0.169) 0.004519 (0.169) 0.0145833 (0.002) s1041_hgc 0.0210221 (0.000) 0.0210221 (0.000) 0.150857 (0.000) s1101_employed 0.0420871 (0.245) 0.0420871 (0.245) 0.0273189 (0.541) lc10conwr -0.6848394 (0.000) -0.6848394 (0.000) -0.7780885 (0.005) Since FIES is a cross sectional data, the model maybe exposed to the violations of multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity. As shown in the appendix1, under the CLRM violations, there exists no multicollinearity in the equations, but there exists heteroscedasticity three out of four equations in the model. The only way to correct for the heteroscedasticity problem is by estimating the simultaneous equations using the three-stage least squares method, which is considered to be full information approach. Three-stage least squares (3SLS) Consumption Goods Food (948 obs) Non Food (1078 obs) Tobacco-Alcohol (634 obs) 1st Equation Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 6.383871 (0.000) 0.7926094 (0.289) 18.63624 (0.000) lnwages 0.2224267 (0.000) 0.2831109 (0.000) 0.7374008 (0.000) lncondo 0.0245077 (0.582) 0.3151916 (0.000) -2.405262 (0.000) lnconab 0.2101956 (0.001) 0.4810778 (0.000) 0.9024638 (0.020) 2nd Eq. lnwages Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 2.142826 (0.000) 2.126479 (0.000) 1.895235 (0.000) lnwsag 0.3560053 (0.000) 0.3594587 (0.000) 0.419183 (0.000) lnwsnag 0.5203181 (0.000) 0.5187091 (0.000) 0.4846674 (0.000) 3rd Eq. lncondo Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 7.66644 (0.000) 7.420188 (0.000) 8.252266 (0.000) s1021_age 0.0000462 (0.987) -0.0005333 (0.840) 0.0042572 (0.224) s1041_hgc 0.0344578 (0.000) 0.0327889 (0.000) 0.0972984 (0.002) s1101_employed -0.0109756 (0.720) 0.030168 (0.302) -0.0811008 (0.009) lc10conwr 0.173369 (0.296) 0.234941 (0.151) -0.0362562 (0.860) 4th Eq. lnconab Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 9.635422 (0.000) 9.760654 (0.000) 9.899007 (0.000) s1021_age 0.0025551 (0.394) 0.0034051 (0.195) 0.0140427 (0.003) s1041_hgc 0.0212975 (0.000) 0.0171248 (0.000) 0.1589354 (0.000) s1101_employed 0.1534522 (0.000) 0.1464836 (0.000) 0.0291422 (0.510) lc10conwr -0.484862 (0.011) -0.5302148 (0.004) -0.761339 (0.006) By using the 3SLS, the models are now corrected and it is free from any CLRM violations. Therefore, the table shown above is already the final model of estimation, and we can now interpret the results equation per equation basis. Check for equality and unit elasticity As indicated in the appendices (last part), we also check if there lnwages and lnconab in the food consumption equation are indeed equal. We used the test command in STATA, to see if the two variables are equal, by looking at its p-value. The resulting p-value of the test is 0.8614, meaning we have no evidence to reject the null hypothesis that the two variablesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ coefficients are equal. We made the same process for the lnwages and lncondo in the nonfood consumption equation, and the resulting p-value of the test is 0.6846, which means that lnwages and lncondo are also equal in the estimation. Aside from the check for equality, we also check if the lnconabà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income elasticity to tobacco-alcohol consumption is equal to 1. The resulting p-value for the test is 0.8007, which means that the income elasticity of lnconab to tobacco-alcohol consumption is 1, meaning it is unit elastic. Results Model 1 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Food Consumption In the first model, which is the total food expenditure model, the variable domestic source of income in the 1st equation is considered to be statistically insignificant. This means that it will be meaningless to interpret the results of that particular variable. As for wages and foreign source of income, we can see that the two coefficients are very similar, which means that for every one percent increase in wages and foreign source of income, food consumption increases by 0.22 and 0.21 percent respectively. The results are clearly consistent with Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law of food consumption that the proportion of food expenditure decrease as an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income increases. For the 2nd equation, which is the wage equation, the result shows that the impact of non-agricultural activities is greater compared to agricultural activities. This is consistent with our a-priori expectation of one having a larger impact than the other. In reality, we can see that non-agricultural activities result to higher income due to its high value added products that it produces. The higher the value added the work is, the higher the changes are that wages or salaries received will be also higher. For the 3rd and 4th equation, which is considered to be similar except for the source of income where it comes from, the results show that only highest grade completed is considered to be statistically significant in the 3rd equation, while in the 4th equation, the household headà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s age is the only one which is statistically insignificant. For the domestic source of income, we can observed that people who has a larger share of the wages or salaries in the company, have typically higher educational attainment compared to those who have lower educational attainment. The result of the 3rd equation maybe attributed to that factor. For the 4th equation, it is the same explanation for the highest grade completed by the household head as in the 3rd equation. While for the total family members employed with pay, it has a positive relationship, simply because if there are larger number of family members who are working and receiving salaries, the cumulative source of income wi ll be larger, compared to those families who have fewer number of family members working with pay. The last variable in the 4th equation, which is the dummy variable contract worker, we can see in the result that if an individual is a contract worker, generally, that individual will receive lower wages compared to those regular employees. This is because contractual workers are given limited period of time to work for certain companies, and companies hire contractual workers for short term uses. With that, companies usually pay lower amount of wages to these short term workers. Model 2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Non food consumption For the 2nd model, the nonfood consumption model, all the variables in the 1st equation are all statistically significant. The coefficients of wages and domestic source of income are similar, but there is a disparity between these two variables and the foreign source of income, which resulted to a higher coefficient. The higher coefficient means that the foreign source of income is more sensitive to nonfood consumption compared to the initial two variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" wages and domestic income. We can see in the result that a ho Effect of Remittances on Household Consumption Patterns Effect of Remittances on Household Consumption Patterns Do remittances affect the consumption pattern of the Filipino households? Objectives The objective of this paper is to formulate structural models to illustrate the change in consumption pattern of the Filipino households. In this study, our aim is to use an advanced econometric approach to find out if there is indeed such change in the consumption pattern of the household receiving remittances as compared to those who only get their income from domestic sources. Review of Related Literature There are several studies regarding the consumption patterns of household. One of which is the study made by Taylor and Mora (2006), they studied about the effect of migration in reshaping the expenditure of rural households in Mexico. The conclusion that they made is that remittances has positive effects on total expenditures and investment. They also found out that as the remittances of rural household increases, the proportion of the income on consumption decreases (Taylor Mora, 2006). Another one is the study of Rasyad A. Parinduri Shandre M. Thangavelu (2008), wherein they used the Indonesia Family Life Survey data to observe the effect of remittances to the consumption patterns of the Indonesian households. In their study, they used the matching and difference-in-difference matching estimators to observe the relationship. They found out that remittances do not improve the living standard of the households, nor do remittances have an effect on economic development. They used t he education and medical expenditure as indicators of economic development. The major findings that they have are that most of the Indonesian households used the remittances in terms of investing them into luxury goods such as house and jewelries (Parinduri Thangavelu, 2008). Using the same study, we intend to observe the consumption pattern of the households, based not only on the remittances but also to other sources of income. In addition to that, instead of looking at economic development, we intend to look at the consumption goods that households normally consume, and see if there are indeed changes in the consumption patterns of the selected households. Theoretical Framework Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law Methodology and Data In the methodology and data part, our main concern is to find ways to observe the consumption patterns of the Filipino households here in this country. In order to do that, we tried to find a dataset that will explain such relationship. Based from the available datasets here in the country, we would say that the Family Income and Expenditure Survey or the FIES best suits our study. The dataset enlists all the possible consumption goods that were being consumed by the households during a specific year. In addition to that, we can also determine the source of income of the different households that was made available in the dataset. By examining the relationship of consumption and income, we will be able to observe the behavioral aspect of the Filipino householdsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ consumption based from the income that they received. Due to the inaccessibility of the latest data, we settled for the 2003 edition. Based on this data, we will be able to observe the impact of the different sources of income to the kind of goods that the Filipino families consume, using an advanced econometric approach called the simultaneous equation model (SEM). After acquiring the right dataset for this study, we must next formulate the different structural equations to illustrate the consumption patterns. In this paper, we have formulated four equations, one of which is based from the Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law, which again, states that when an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income increases, his/her percentage of consumption decreases (Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law, n.d.). As for the other three other equations which are mainly composed of different sources of income, mainly wages, domestic source, and foreign source, we have used other studies conducted by (SOURCE) ,to see what are the factors that affects or determine the different sources of income. After formulating the equations, we decided to use the log-log model for the estimation, simply because our study aims to observe the income elasticity of the different goods. With the use of the log-log model, we will be able to determine the elasticity of the different consumption goods, by just looking at their respective estimated coefficients. Another reason why we chose the log-log model is because of the limited information about the domestic and foreign source of income in the FIES data. There are several households in the data who either do not receive domestic or foreign source of income, or the data gatherers failed to obtain these data from the respective respondents. By using the log-log model, we will be able to exclude those unrecorded observations, so that the results will be not inconsistent and will not be affected by the people who do not receive income from either domestic or foreign source. After citing the reasons for the construction of the model, next, we will be observing three consumption goods, particularly the total food expenditures, the total non food expenditures, and the tobacco-alcohol consumption. Model 1: Food Consumption Equation 1: Equation 2: Equation 3: Equation 4: Where: food = total food expenditures Condo = domestic source of income Conab = foreign source of income Wage = wages or salaries of the household Wsag = wages or salaries from agricultural activities Wsnag = wages or salaries from non-agricultural activities S1021_age = household head age S1041_hgc = household head highest grade completed S1101_employed = total number of family employed with pay Lc10_conwr = contractual worker indicator In order to observe the consumption patterns of the Filipino household based from the different sources of income, we will be modifying the first equation of the model, by replacing one good to the other good, while maintaining the same structural forms. For example, in the initial first model, we have chosen food expenditure as our first consumption good. Later on, we will be observing other consumption goods such as non food expenditure, and alcoholic tobacco-alcohol consumption, and we will replace the food consumption with these other goods. This is because consumption goods are all affected by the income, and we have chosen the different income sources based from the availability of the FIES data, which was released on 2003. A-priori expectation Given the interrelationship of the equations, it seems like we have to solve the equations simultaneously to estimate for the unknown variables. Before we can use the simultaneous equation model (SEM) approach, there are several identification problems that we must solve in order to know whether SEM is an appropriate method or not. According to Gujarati and Porter (2009), the identification problem process consists of the following tests: a. order and rank condition, b. Hausman specification test, which is also known as the simultaneity test, and c. exogeneity test. Identification Problem Order and rank condition Before we proceed with the order and rank condition, we must first define the different variables that we will be using in order to test whether the equations are under-identified, exactly identified or over-identified. Legend: M à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of endogenous variables in the model m à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of endogenous variables in the equation K à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of exogenous/predetermined variables in the model k à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  number of exogenous/predetermined variables in the equation Order Condition The order condition is a necessary but not sufficient condition for identification (Gujarati and Porter, 2009). This test is used to see whether an equation is identified by comparing the number of excluded exogenous/predetermined variables in a given equation with the number of endogenous variables in the equation less one. There will be three instances where we can determine if the equation is identified or not. First, if K-k (number of excluded predetermined variables in the equation) In the first model, there are four endogenous variables namely lnfood, lnwages, lncondo, and lnconab (M=4). And there are also six exogenous variables in the equation which are the variables that were not named (K=6). With that, the order condition of the food consumption is illustrated below: Equation K-k m-1 Conclusion Lnfood 6 3 Over Lnwages 4 0 Over Lncondo 2 0 Over Lnconab 2 0 Over In the first case, all the equations are considered to be over-identified, simply because K-k > m-1. In the order condition, we have concluded that the model is identified. However, the order condition is not sufficiently enough to justify whether an equation is identified or not, that is why there is another condition that must be satisfied before we can proceed to the estimation process, which is the rank condition. Rank Condition The rank condition is a necessary and sufficient condition for identification. In order to satisfy the rank condition, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“there must be at least one nonzero determinant of order (M-1) (M-1) can be constructed from the coefficients of the variables excluded from that particular equation but included in the other equations of the modelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?(Gujarati and Porter, 2009). Ys Xs Eq. Food Wages condo conab 1 wssag wsnag hh_age hh_hgc employed conwr lnfood 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lnwages 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lncondo 0 0 1 0 0 0 Lnconab 0 0 0 1 0 0 We simplify the variableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s notation, but ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s basically the same as the variables in the model, it only lacks the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“lnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in some variables, and some variablesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ descriptions are shortened. We can observed that the (M-1) x (M-1), which in this case is 3 x 3 matrices, have at least one nonzero determinant, therefore the rank condition is satisfied. We can now proceed to the other identification test. Hausman specification test The Hausman specification test is to test whether the equations exhibits simultaneity problem or not. According to Gujarati and Porter (2009), if there is not simultaneity problem, then OLS is BLUE (best linear unbiased estimator). But if there is simultaneity problem, then OLS is not blue, because the estimated results will be bias and inconsistent. With that, we have to use the different estimation techniques of the SEM in order to regress the given equations. The Hausman specification test involves the following process: First, we regress an endogenous variable with respect to all of the exogenous/predetermined variables in the system, after which we obtain the value of the residual, in which it is the predictedThe second step is to regress the endogenous variable with respect to the other endogenous variables plus the predicted . If the is statistically significant, this means that we have all the evidence to reject the null hypothesis, which states that there is no simultaneity bias in the model. But if it is insignificant, we have no evidence to reject the null hypothesis, and if that happens, there is no simultaneity problem. The variable that exhibits no simultaneity bias should not be treated as an endogenous variable. (Gujarati and Porter, 2009) Dependent variable: lnwages P-values Independent variables: lncondo 0.370 lnconab 0.014 uhat 0.000 For the simultaneity test in the first model, we follow the steps in the Hausman specification test. After that, we observed the predicted uhat in this regression and we can see that the predicted uhat here is 0.000. This means that the null hypothesis is rejected, and there exist simultaneity bias in the first model, therefore we should use other estimation techniques other than OLS, to produce unbiased and consistent estimates. Exogeneity test After the simultaneity test, we must also test for the other exogenous/predetermined variables, to check whether these variables are truly exogenous or not. The process is similar to the Hausman specification test, but instead of regressing the endogenous variables, we regress each exogenous/predetermined variable with respect to the . If the is statistically significant, then we have to reject the null hypothesis that it is truly an exogenous variable. But if the p-value of the is 1.000, this means that we have no evidence to reject the null hypothesis, and we conclude that the corresponding variables are truly exogenous or truly predetermined variables. Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat Lnwsag 1.000 lnwsnag 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 3nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 4nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Based from the table given above, each exogenous variable is regressed against the predict uhat and looking at the respective p-values, which are all 1.000. This means that we have no evidence to reject that these variables are indeed truly exogenous variables in each of the equations. Model 2: Non Food Consumption Equation 1: Equation 2: Equation 3: Equation 4: Where: nonfood = total non food expenditure In model 2, we basically changed the total food expenditure with the total non food expenditure. Before we can regress the model, this model should also undergo series of identification problem process to see if whether the model is identified or not. We will also test if the nonfood expenditure model exhibits simultaneity bias and if all of its exogenous variables are truly exogenous. Order and Rank Condition Order Condition Equation K-k m-1 Conclusion Lnnonfood 6 3 Over Lnwages 4 0 Over Lncondo 2 0 Over Lnconab 2 0 Over Similar to the food consumption order condition, the non food consumption is also identified based on the order condition. All equations are concluded to be over-identified; therefore we can say that the model is identified. But again, we must use the rank condition to further validate if the equations are truly identified or not. Rank Condition Ys Xs Eq. nonfood wages condo conab 1 wssag wsnag hh_age hh_hgc employed conwr lnnonfood 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lnwages 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lncondo 0 0 1 0 0 0 lnconab 0 0 0 1 0 0 Based from the sub 33 matrices, we can say that there exists at least one nonzero determinant in the equation, therefore rank condition is satisfied. This means that the equations are identified. Hausman specification test Dependent variable: lnwages P-values Independent variables: lncondo 0.533 lnconab 0.011 uhat2 0.001 For the simultaneity test in model 2, we can see that uhat2 is statistically significant, meaning there exists a simultaneity bias in the model. Therefore we must use the SEM estimation techniques similar to model 1, to estimate the impact of income and consumption goods. Exogeneity test Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 2nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat2 Lnwsag 1.000 lnwsnag 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 3nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat2 s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Exogenous variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 4nd equation Resulting p-values for uhat2 s1021_age 1.000 s1041_hgc 1.000 s1101_employed 1.000 lc10_conwr 1.000 Similar to the food consumption model, the exogenous variables in the nonfood model are truly exogenous, since all the resulting p-values for uhat2, are all 1.000. Model 3: Tobacco-Alcohol Consumption Equation 1: Equation 2: Equation 3: Equation 4: Where: at = tobacco-alcohol consumption The same process in model 2 was made here in model 3, we now check for the identification problems for the tobacco-alcohol consumption Order and Rank Condition Order Condition Equation K-k m-1 Conclusion Lnat 6 3 Over Lnwages 4 0 Over Lncondo 2 0 Over Lnconab 2 0 Over Order condition is satisfied here in model 3, since all of the equations are concluded to be over-identification. We now proceed to the rank condition to check if the equations are ultimately identified. Rank Condition Ys Xs Eq. at wages condo conab 1 wssag wsnag hh_age hh_hgc employed conwr lnat 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lnwages 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 lncondo 0 0 1 0 0 0 lnconab 0 0 0 1 0 0 Rank condition is satisfied because there is at least one nonzero determinant here in the sub 33 matrices. Hausman specification test Dependent variable: lnwages P-values Independent variables: lncondo 0.911 lnconab 0.063 uhat3 0.003 In model 3, there is no simultaneity problem because uhat3 is statistically significant. Therefore, we have all the evidence to reject the null hypothesis that there is no simultaneity bias in the equation. The same procedure as for food and nonfood model, we will be using the different estimation techniques to estimate these unknown variables. Estimation Techniques and Results Estimation Techniques After the identification problems of the simultaneous equation problem, we proceed to the estimation techniques. As discussed by Gujarati and Porter (2009), they provided three estimation techniques in order to solve for SEM, namely the ordinary least squares (OLS), indirect least squares (ILS), and the two-stage least squares (2SLS). The OLS is used for the recursive, triangular, or causal models (Gujarati and Porter, 2009). Meanwhile, the ILS focuses more on the reduced form of the simultaneous equations, wherein there exists only one endogenous variable in the reduced form equation and it is expressed in terms of all existing exogenous/predetermined variables in the model. It is estimated through the OLS approach, and this method best suits if the model is exactly identified (Gujarati and Porter, 2009). Lastly, the 2SLS approach, wherein the equations are estimated simultaneously. Unlike ILS, 2SLS can used to estimate exact and over-identified equations. (Gujarati and Porter, 2009 ) The three approaches discussed by Gujarati and Porter (2009) are all based from the single equation approach. If there are CLRM violations such as autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity in the models, we must use the system approach, particularly the three-stage least squares (3SLS), to correct these violations. The only drawback of the 3SLS method is that if any errors in one equation will affect the other equations. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Since all three models suffer from simultaneity bias, we will not use the OLS in this paper. This is because if we used the OLS in estimating the equation which there exist simultaneity bias, the results will be biased and inconsistent. Therefore, OLS is not a good estimator for the three models. Indirect Least Squares (ILS) Food consumption model reduced form: Where: | Nonfood model reduced form: Where: | Tobacco-Alcohol model reduced form: Where: | We will not estimate anymore the coefficient for the ILS, because our main goal is to observe the relationship of consumption goods with the different sources of income and not the other determinants of the different sources of income. The ILS results will not yield standard error for the structural coefficients; therefore it will be hard to obtain the values of the structural coefficients. In addition to that, all of our equations are over-identified, therefore ILS is an inappropriate method to estimate the coefficients. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) Consumption Goods Food (948 obs) Non Food (1078 obs) Tobacco-Alcohol (634 obs) 1st Equation Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 6.428484 (0.000) 1.401963 (0.070) 12.94298 (0.001) lnwages 0.2235283 (0.000) 0.2880426 (0.000) 0.7781965 (0.000) lncondo 0.0223739 (0.622) 0.2036453 (0.013) -1.47202 (0.000) lnconab 0.205797 (0.001) 0.5110999 (0.000) 0.6098058 (0.121) 2nd Eq. lnwages Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 2.122649 (0.000) 2.122649 (0.000) 1.884011 (0.000) lnwsag 0.3611279 (0.000) 0.3611279 (0.000) 0.42199 (0.000) lnwsnag 0.5175117 (0.000) 0.5175117 (0.000) 0.483135 (0.000) 3rd Eq. lncondo Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 7.75861 (0.000) 7.75861 (0.000) 7.887869 (0.000) s1021_age -0.0003422 (0.903) -0.0003422 (0.903) 0.0014345 (0.720) s1041_hgc 0.0346237 (0.000) 0.0346237 (0.000) 0.1302147 (0.000) s1101_employed -0.023387 (0.450) -0.023387 (0.450) -0.0601213 (0.111) lc10conwr 0.1583353 (0.345) 0.1583353 (0.345) 0.0871853 (0.710) 4th Eq. lnconab Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 10.39914 (0.000) 10.39914 (0.000) 9.947326 (0.000) s1021_age 0.004519 (0.169) 0.004519 (0.169) 0.0145833 (0.002) s1041_hgc 0.0210221 (0.000) 0.0210221 (0.000) 0.150857 (0.000) s1101_employed 0.0420871 (0.245) 0.0420871 (0.245) 0.0273189 (0.541) lc10conwr -0.6848394 (0.000) -0.6848394 (0.000) -0.7780885 (0.005) Since FIES is a cross sectional data, the model maybe exposed to the violations of multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity. As shown in the appendix1, under the CLRM violations, there exists no multicollinearity in the equations, but there exists heteroscedasticity three out of four equations in the model. The only way to correct for the heteroscedasticity problem is by estimating the simultaneous equations using the three-stage least squares method, which is considered to be full information approach. Three-stage least squares (3SLS) Consumption Goods Food (948 obs) Non Food (1078 obs) Tobacco-Alcohol (634 obs) 1st Equation Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 6.383871 (0.000) 0.7926094 (0.289) 18.63624 (0.000) lnwages 0.2224267 (0.000) 0.2831109 (0.000) 0.7374008 (0.000) lncondo 0.0245077 (0.582) 0.3151916 (0.000) -2.405262 (0.000) lnconab 0.2101956 (0.001) 0.4810778 (0.000) 0.9024638 (0.020) 2nd Eq. lnwages Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 2.142826 (0.000) 2.126479 (0.000) 1.895235 (0.000) lnwsag 0.3560053 (0.000) 0.3594587 (0.000) 0.419183 (0.000) lnwsnag 0.5203181 (0.000) 0.5187091 (0.000) 0.4846674 (0.000) 3rd Eq. lncondo Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 7.66644 (0.000) 7.420188 (0.000) 8.252266 (0.000) s1021_age 0.0000462 (0.987) -0.0005333 (0.840) 0.0042572 (0.224) s1041_hgc 0.0344578 (0.000) 0.0327889 (0.000) 0.0972984 (0.002) s1101_employed -0.0109756 (0.720) 0.030168 (0.302) -0.0811008 (0.009) lc10conwr 0.173369 (0.296) 0.234941 (0.151) -0.0362562 (0.860) 4th Eq. lnconab Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) Coefficients (P-value) constant 9.635422 (0.000) 9.760654 (0.000) 9.899007 (0.000) s1021_age 0.0025551 (0.394) 0.0034051 (0.195) 0.0140427 (0.003) s1041_hgc 0.0212975 (0.000) 0.0171248 (0.000) 0.1589354 (0.000) s1101_employed 0.1534522 (0.000) 0.1464836 (0.000) 0.0291422 (0.510) lc10conwr -0.484862 (0.011) -0.5302148 (0.004) -0.761339 (0.006) By using the 3SLS, the models are now corrected and it is free from any CLRM violations. Therefore, the table shown above is already the final model of estimation, and we can now interpret the results equation per equation basis. Check for equality and unit elasticity As indicated in the appendices (last part), we also check if there lnwages and lnconab in the food consumption equation are indeed equal. We used the test command in STATA, to see if the two variables are equal, by looking at its p-value. The resulting p-value of the test is 0.8614, meaning we have no evidence to reject the null hypothesis that the two variablesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ coefficients are equal. We made the same process for the lnwages and lncondo in the nonfood consumption equation, and the resulting p-value of the test is 0.6846, which means that lnwages and lncondo are also equal in the estimation. Aside from the check for equality, we also check if the lnconabà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income elasticity to tobacco-alcohol consumption is equal to 1. The resulting p-value for the test is 0.8007, which means that the income elasticity of lnconab to tobacco-alcohol consumption is 1, meaning it is unit elastic. Results Model 1 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Food Consumption In the first model, which is the total food expenditure model, the variable domestic source of income in the 1st equation is considered to be statistically insignificant. This means that it will be meaningless to interpret the results of that particular variable. As for wages and foreign source of income, we can see that the two coefficients are very similar, which means that for every one percent increase in wages and foreign source of income, food consumption increases by 0.22 and 0.21 percent respectively. The results are clearly consistent with Engelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Law of food consumption that the proportion of food expenditure decrease as an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income increases. For the 2nd equation, which is the wage equation, the result shows that the impact of non-agricultural activities is greater compared to agricultural activities. This is consistent with our a-priori expectation of one having a larger impact than the other. In reality, we can see that non-agricultural activities result to higher income due to its high value added products that it produces. The higher the value added the work is, the higher the changes are that wages or salaries received will be also higher. For the 3rd and 4th equation, which is considered to be similar except for the source of income where it comes from, the results show that only highest grade completed is considered to be statistically significant in the 3rd equation, while in the 4th equation, the household headà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s age is the only one which is statistically insignificant. For the domestic source of income, we can observed that people who has a larger share of the wages or salaries in the company, have typically higher educational attainment compared to those who have lower educational attainment. The result of the 3rd equation maybe attributed to that factor. For the 4th equation, it is the same explanation for the highest grade completed by the household head as in the 3rd equation. While for the total family members employed with pay, it has a positive relationship, simply because if there are larger number of family members who are working and receiving salaries, the cumulative source of income wi ll be larger, compared to those families who have fewer number of family members working with pay. The last variable in the 4th equation, which is the dummy variable contract worker, we can see in the result that if an individual is a contract worker, generally, that individual will receive lower wages compared to those regular employees. This is because contractual workers are given limited period of time to work for certain companies, and companies hire contractual workers for short term uses. With that, companies usually pay lower amount of wages to these short term workers. Model 2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Non food consumption For the 2nd model, the nonfood consumption model, all the variables in the 1st equation are all statistically significant. The coefficients of wages and domestic source of income are similar, but there is a disparity between these two variables and the foreign source of income, which resulted to a higher coefficient. The higher coefficient means that the foreign source of income is more sensitive to nonfood consumption compared to the initial two variables à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" wages and domestic income. We can see in the result that a ho

Tunnel Vision In Reading :: essays research papers

Reading involves translating symbols and letters into words or sentences. Anderson defines reading as a process of constructing meaning from a written text. We indulge in reading for many different purposes, be it survival, leisure or occupational. In a way, reading serves as a kind communication between the writer and the reader. The writer encodes what he or she wishes to convey while the reader decodes according to his or her own perception. Johnson quotes â€Å"A young man should read five hours in a day, and so may acquire a great deal of knowledge.† However, there as several problems which hinders the reading process, one of them being ‘tunnel vision’. This is a condition experienced by most readers especially beginners. This is because they lack ‘non visual information’ when trying to digest certain texts. Non visual information is what is stored in the brain, prior knowledge or specific information which will enable the brain to associate with whatever is received through the eyes thus bringing comprehension to the reader’s mind when reading a text. The inability of the brain to use this information due the over-load of visual information, will cause it to take more time to make decisions on what are seen. For example, a student unfamiliar with certain words in a purposely distorted text may have to take a few seconds longer to recognize them rather than familiar words which only require a single glance. Tunnel vision also occurs when readers are asked to read texts that are written in a language they do not know or a writing system they can’t discern. As there is no non-visual information what so ever in that particular language and writing system, they will not be able to read the text, let alone understand it. For example, a Malay student will have a serious problem if requested to read a passage in Russian! There are also cases when texts written in readers’ first language fails to enlightened them. This is because they have no prior knowledge on the ideas or facts written. A student majoring in Arts will have problem comprehending a text written on Chemical Engineering and vice versa. This inevitably causes ‘tunnel vision’ to resurface. They could go on reading till the last page of the text without understanding the content. Tunnel vision slows down the reading process, as readers are unable to identify or interpret any part of the text.

The Impact of Globalization on Poverty Essay -- Outsourcing, Offshorin

Globalization has helped raise the standard of living for many people worldwide. It has also, however, driven many deeper into poverty. Small businesses and third world countries are not capable of updating their technology as often as their larger, wealthier counterparts. Unable to compete with multinational firms and wealthy nations, small businesses and third world countries and forced to do business locally, never growing and reaching their full potential. Technological advances are made daily throughout the world. However, it is expensive to rapidly make and transport these advances globally. This high production cost causes the consumer’s price to be unnecessarily high. Today, there are many countries in the world that cannot afford to pay such a high price for the latest technology, and by the time they can afford to pay, newer, more advanced technology exists. The democratization of technology benefits mainly the wealthier countries. Technological advances not only benefit wealthy countries, but also wealthier companies. Technological advancements allow countries and their companies worldwide publicity when they are successful. Because investors are able to easily invest on the Internet, on the telephone, and through facsimile machines, the profits of companies have increased greatly. Currency traders all over the world have also been able to update exchange rates and notify the public of the updates more rapidly. This has led to more desire to finalize deals because companies are able to be sure that they are receiving competitive exchange rates. Swissair, an airline based in Switzerland, even moved its entire accounting division from Switzerland to India simply because the accountants in India are among the best in the world. They were able to do this because all of the information from their new office halfway around the world was transmitted through the use of technologically advanced devices. Because labor is cheaper and the workers are more skilled in India, the company benefited in two ways. For the same reasons as in India, Thailand has moved from being primarily a rice-producing nation, to the world’s second largest producer of pickup trucks and fourth largest producer of motorcycles (Solbrig). As far back as the invention of the telephone, the countries with the best economies were the most technologically advanced. ... ...Claas van der Linde. Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives. (Fall 2009) pp. 97-118. Solbrig, O. T. et al. Globalization and Technology. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2014. Tietenberg, Thomas. Globalization Economics. Addison Wesley: New York, 2011. pp. 561. pp. 7-11. Internet Sources Consulted "Globalization." - National Geographic Education. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 14 May 2015. LONDON. "When Did Globalisation Start?" The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 15 May 2015. "Globalization." Defination & Example. Investing Answers, 2001-2014. Web. 15 May 2015. Olivero, Tina. "Globalization: Understanding the Impact of Globalization on Our World." Global Oil and Gas Industry News. 29 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 May 2015. Ager, Rob. "Collative Learning - Rob Ager." Collative Learning - Rob Ager. N.p., 2007. Web. 22 May 2015. Collins, Mike. "The Pros And Cons Of Globalization." Manufacturing . Net. Saving American Manufacturing, 28 June 2010. Web. 26 May 2015. Fitzpatrick, Liam. "The Best of Asia." Time. Time Inc., 27 Apr. 2007. Web. 26 May 2015.

Attribution theory :: essays research papers

ATTRIBUTION THEORY OF FRITZ HEIDER Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article starts off by a man having his wife serve on a jury in a federal case involving conspiracy, racketeering, drug dealing, armed robbery, and extortion. There were seven defendants and one that escaped from police custody. The key government witness was an ex-gang member named Larry who was called â€Å"the Canary† by the defendants because he turned informer. For two months Jean, the wife, listened to Larry’s testimony and tried to figure out whether his account of the incident was credible or not. A question in her mind was that whether his behavior on the stand was that of pathological liar, a rejected pal seeking revenge, a petty crook who would say anything to save his own skin, or and honest witness dedicated to the truth? All this falls into Fritz Heider’s attribution theory saying that we all tend to rationalize in the same way. Fritz said that the theory of attribution is the process of drawing inferences. This would be seeing a person act and immediately reaching a conclusion that goes beyond mere sensory information. Example: Larry yawns while on the stand. Your immediate conclusive reaction would be â€Å"is he bored, afraid, tired, or indifferent†. In the article it says that Heider would see us as naà ¯ve psychologist bringing common sense to bear on an interpersonal judgment. It also says that we can’t help it to make these judgments. This is because we make personality judgments in order to explain otherwise confusing behavior. Heider says that there’s another reason for making causal inferences from behavior. The reason is because we want to know what to expect in the future. He says prediction is a survival skill. Example: Jean comes face-to-face with one of the defendants, in her jury trail, outside a train station. Mildly anxious, she quickly turned aside. Accurate attributions can help us know which people might do us harm. The article also talks about attribution as being a three-step process through which we perceive others as causal agents. The three-step process talked about includes perception of the action (You saw it), judgment of intention (You/they meant to do that), and attribution of disposition (What you think of the action). Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin, in the case with Jean trying to figure out whether Larry’s story was credible and how to categorize his behavior. In my opinion I would think him turning informer

Moore Medical Corporation – Analysis to It Investments

CASE ANALYSIS Document Version: 1. 0 Moore Medical Corporation Analysis to IT investments Dilip IT for Business Managers Business Background †¢ Moore Medical Corporation founded in 1947 is a distributor of medical supplies. The company had built its business model taking care of specific groups of practitioners such as podiatrists and emergency medical service personnel. †¢ Moore provides more than 8500 products and the company had divided its customers into six groups. Moore has a strong tradition of accurately maintaining customer orders. †¢ Moore’s current IT infrastructure and spending was above the industry average implementing most of the latest technologies like ERP, telemarketing and e-commerce. Case Issues and Results Issue – 1: Linda Autore, the CEO of Moore Medical, Inc was unsure if she needed to spend any of the company’s funds on CRM software. Solution and Analysis: It is definitely true that CRM provides an integrated record of all customer contacts through all channels, assembling an optimal schedule of appointments for sales people which would lead to a better consistency of Moore’s interaction with its customers; however from the analysis of the case I see that Moore has currently a tradition of accurately and quickly filling customer orders which had no problems. From the technology perspective it is definitely great to get a company like Moore to be updated with CRM but however looking at the current problem that Moore faces I believe it’s not worth wasting an investment in CRM. Issue – 2: Moore has spent $7 million in implementing the ERP; however Moore’s ERP implementation was not very satisfying since it was not fully utilizing the information retained in the system and was also inferior to what had been in place previously. Solution and Analysis: ERP is an excellent database system provided it has been implemented with respect to the company’s requirements. From the case I see that Moore’s ERP was unsuccessful and had shortcomings that were required to be fixed immediately. ERP covers all areas from finance, logistics to marketing and also Moore’s latest e-commerce website. I believe an additional investment of $600,000 to purchase the ‘Bolt on’ software is necessary to realize the $7 million investment made in the ERP. Issue – 3: One of the major problems faced with Moore in their ERP systems was their poor implementation of demand planning. Moore’s performance on the â€Å"Perfect Order† was way below their expected goal of 90% as shown in Exhibit 5. Solution and Analysis: It is mentioned in the case that 84% of the non-perfect orders are due to demand planning issues. Even if the company spends $300,000 on each of the four models which are in consideration to solve the forecasting issue the company would spend only $1. million. It must be noted that this additional cost will help the company in increased revenues, reduced costs and better customer satisfaction. Issue – 4: Is Company’s decision to move to personal e-commerce a right choice? Solution: From the available information and looking at exhibit 7 I believe the traffic and income generated towards personal e-commerce has been increased substantially in six months since the start of the new website. However my suggestion to Moore is that it withdraws from yahoo is a phased manner. Relevance and analysis From the analysis of Moore Corporation I believe they have made relevant investments in IT infrastructure; however the company lacks a strategy to implement them. I believe the company needs to prioritize their requirements from their business point of view. Here I believe CRM is an important tool to improve customer relationships but however they need to set their prior projects right before setting their eye on CRM. Their initial priority is to set right the ERP which would set right the demand planning issue also. Setting the ERP right would help also help in achieving good revenue from e-commerce applications. IT is definitely a solution to a particular problem, such as customer acquisition and retention, increased revenues and provides employees an efficient tool; however the goals of IT should be linked to the corporate strategy. Investing blindly in IT without a strategy will not derive the desired result.