Discuss the importance of Budget transparency in foreign direct investment in developing countries The WritePass Journal

Discuss the importance of Budget transparency in foreign direct investment in developing countries Introduction Discuss the importance of Budget transparency in foreign direct investment in developing countries Introduction What is Foreign Direct Investment and what are the determinants of FDI? Fitting the pieces together, FDI and Budget Transparency. Budget Transparency and FDI, Case Study evidence from Uganda: Conclusions and Implications: ReferencesRelated Introduction In recent literature, capital flows from rich to poor nations has become a subject for intense debate among development theorists. (Kolstad, 2008) Many development theorists have come to understand that foreign direct investment (FDI) can provide a positive incentive for growth and development in poor nations. The gains from FDI are numerous, and include technological and productivity spillovers, as well as reduced prices for downstream suppliers for domestic firms, increase demand in local labor markets, increased wages, and an increase in revenue streams for the domestic government. (Javorcik, 2004) Thus, understanding why foreign direct investment flows into some developing countries and not others can have a major impact on development policy in many organizations; including multinational organizations, intra-government development ministries, and private sector aid agencies. In traditional macroeconomic theory, capital flows from countries with a low marginal product of capital to those with a higher marginal product of capital. (Biswas, 2002) In reality however this does not uniformly occur. Furthermore, according to the IMF, â€Å"there is no unique and widely accepted theory of foreign direct investment.† (Lizondo, 1990) Classical macroeconomic theory therefore does not sufficiently explain foreign direct investment rates and supplement theories are required. There is a combination of theories that include numerous explanations of foreign direct investment in developing countries. These include, risk reduction (risk diversification) and market size, market imperfections, oligopolistic rivalry and product cycle hypothesis, liquidity of subsidiaries, currency exchange rates, and lastly political stability and domestic tax rates. (Lizondo, 1990) For the purposes of this essay, I will be focusing specifically on risk diversification, currency excha nge rates, political variables and domestic fiscal norms –as these have the most applicability to budget transparency. Clearly, the outlined above determinants of foreign direct investments are all affected by budget transparency. The OECD Best Practices for Budget Transparency (2002) outlines the determinants of budget transparency, and the relevant institutional reforms necessary to maintain fiscal and monetary transparency, while ensuring accurate economic outlooks and protecting against off-budget expenditures. (OECD, 2002) Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 Within this essay, I will make the argument that adopting fiscal and monetary transparency, while producing sound economic outlooks and protecting against off-budget expenditures -and complying with these rules in a coherent manner- should reduce the risk of investment in the eyes of foreign entities; which would in turn view increased foreign direct investment more favorably. In order to validate my argument, I will first look at the existing theory behind foreign direct investment, as well as the theory behind budget transparency, and then elaborate on the theoretical and logical link between the two. Lastly, in order to attach these theoretical frameworks to the true state of the world, I will examine a series of case studies. I will examine several states and look at budget transparency within these individual states, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of budget transparency within their government and its subsequent effects on their domestic economies, and then compare the flo w of foreign direct investment (net inflows) as a percentage of GDP. What is Foreign Direct Investment and what are the determinants of FDI? In order to fully understand why foreign direct investment is both affected by budget transparency, and beneficial to developing countries we need a clear working definition of what foreign direct investment actually is. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), foreign direct investment as: â€Å"†¦investment made to acquire a lasting interest in or effective control over an enterprise outside the domestic economy of the investor†¦ FDI net inflows are the value of inward direct investment made by non-resident investors in the reporting economy, including reinvested earnings and intra-company loans, net of repatriation of capital and repayment of loans.† Given this definition, in order to understand what determines the flow of foreign direct investment into a developing economy, and how it corresponds with budgeting transparency, we must understand the decision making process of entities wishing to invest in any particular economy. As mentioned in the introduction of this essay, this is more difficult then it appears as the topic is subject to ongoing academic debate. However, some common trends can be picked out of the academic thicket. Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 In Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (2002), Romita Biswas cites, Keefer and Knack (1995), Lee and Mansfield (1996), and Clague (1999) as explaining property rights and –key for our purposes- quality of governance as crucial to explaining net rates of foreign direct investment in emerging and developing economies. There are numerous indicators for this â€Å"quality of governance† variable; however for our purposes, the most important is government corruption and off budget expenditures, risk of expropriation by government officials and tax rates- all of which are either mitigated by or influenced directly by budget transparency. In support of these variables, Biswas finds that the introduction and interaction of the â€Å"quality of government† variables (again, composed of the above variables) with traditional determinants of foreign direct investment, produces a highly statistically significant effect (5% level) on determining net inflows of foreign di rect investment. (Biswas, 2002) Taking the above into account, we might then explain in more detail the classical determinants of foreign direct investment in developing counties. First and foremost, firms undertake foreign direct investment as a means to mitigate risk. According to an International Monetary Fund working paper produced in 1990: â€Å"†¦a firm would presumably be guided by both expected returns and the possibility of reducing risk. Since the returns on activities in different countries are likely to have less than perfect correlation, a firm could reduce its overall risk by undertaking projects in more than one country. Foreign direct investment can, therefore, be viewed as international portfolio diversification at the corporate level.† (Lizondo, 1990) This tells us that entities diversify risk by spreading foreign direct investments -principally in capital- across many countries. Further expanding on this, we can make a small logical step. We can then assume that entities, wishing to diversify risk would assess the risk inherent in individual economies. Rather than just spreading capital over a high number of developing economies, the entity would pick and choose which developing and emerging economies to locate capital in, and prioritize those locations according to domestic risk –as assessed from the factors mentioned in the introduction. This is a crucial assumption because it says a great deal about the nature of economic entities. In principle, it tells us that these actors do not simply look at the marginal product of capital and prioritize foreign Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 direct investment accordingly. Indeed, we assume for the purposes of this essay that economic entities wishing to engage in foreign direct investment balance risk along with their marginal product of capital for individual developing economies. Moving on from assumptions to other classical determinant of foreign direct investment, we can look at the strength of the entities domestic currency, weighted against the strength of the currency of the recipient economy- destination of the foreign direct investment. This theory is based on â€Å"capital market theory† and the strength of exchange rates. In essence, the theory proposed by Aliber (1970, 1971) hypothesis that the stronger the domestic currency of the actor wishing to partake in foreign direct investment, against the currency of the recipient economy, the more likely it is that this actor is to undertake foreign direct investment. Further, this theory explains this relationship primarily through the preference of an investor to hold a select currency. (Blonigen, 1997) Numerous studies to test this theory have shown that there is indeed a statistically significant negative correlation between strength of currency and net inflows of foreign direct investment. (Bis was, 2002 Blonigen, 1997) Lastly, another determinant of foreign direct investment -which has been studied with mixed results-, is domestic fiscal norms. While the literature on this particular determinant has yielded mixed results, we must still give attention to both the status quo and risk inherent in the fiscal norms of the recipient economy. Given the assumption above -that entities wishing to engage in foreign direct investment assess and quantify the risk of their investments of capital in all individual economies they wish to invest in- we can ascertain that fiscal frameworks play some role in that assessment. Included in fiscal norms are both the tax rates, and the stability of those norms. We can make the assumption that both unfavorable tax rates and instability of fiscal norms will have a negative impact on foreign direct investment. This subject has been partially studied with some encouraging results. In a 2007 International Monetary Fund piece, published in the Journal of Comparative Economics the authors find that the policy environment (including fiscal policy) does have a significant effect on levels of FDI. (Demekas, 2007) Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 Before moving to connect the above determinants of FDI with budget transparency theory, I would briefly like to touch on the interconnected nature of the above determinants of FDI as well as to summarize for the sake of clarity. Above, I cite numerous studies that explain risk, fiscal policy, currency strength, and quality of governance as the crucial determinants of foreign direct investment. Furthermore, hidden in the quality of governance index are several factors that some perceptive academics have looked into; namely government corruption, risk of expropriation by government officials and tax rates. Now, as we’ve discussed fiscal policy, corruption, and risk of expropriation have been mentioned and studied as both an independent contributor to foreign direct investment, as well as part of a â€Å"quality of government index.† In essence, all of these variables have been studied and in one way or another, and have been found to contribute to net inflows of foreign d irect investment. Furthermore, these variables all are directly affected or are altered by the application of budget transparency theory. We will now examine the definition of budget transparency, its application to developing nations, and how the above determinants of foreign direct investment fit into budget transparency theory specifically. Fitting the pieces together, FDI and Budget Transparency. In order to accurately and neatly fit the determinants of net inflows of foreign direct investment together with budget transparency, we need to clearly define what budget transparency is, and its applicability to developing economies. Keeping in mind both the aggregate â€Å"quality of governance† determinant of foreign direct investment as mentioned in the previous section -and its subsidiary parts- the OECD explains that, â€Å"The budget is the single most important policy document for governments.† Furthermore, the OECD explains that budget transparency can be defined, â€Å"†¦as the full disclosure of all relevant fiscal information in a timely and systematic manner.† (OECD, 2002) By maintaining the assumption that, in order to mitigate risk, entities wishing to engage in foreign direct investment prioritize possible recipient economies in terms of their risk and reward, we can see that the level of budget transparency greatly influences many of the ke y determinants of net Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 inflows of FDI at both the aggregate level in the recipient economy, as well as the individual entities decision of whether or not to engage directly a recipient economy. We will now move to accessing individual determinants of net inflows of FDI in terms of budget transparency norms, attempt to tie them to OECD best practices on budget transparency, before finally concluding this section spending some time on the applicability of budget transparency to developing economies. First, we will talk about the currency determinant of foreign direct investment as it relates to budget transparency. Fundamentally, currency exchange rates are affected by interest rates and the amount currency in circulation –both of which are directly affected by government debt. The budget transparency outline is first and foremost a budget document that is designed to –among other things- impose fiscal disciple on a government. (OECD, 2002) This fiscal disciple influences currency strength by (theoretically) lowering the debt incurred by governments, as well as providing for more accurate revenue forecasts. The OECD outlines the conditions for these outcomes in several key areas. First in section 1 by outlining that the government should provide a comprehensive list of all government activities, a forecast of future and previous fiscal year’s government expenditure and revenue, and a complete list of all government liabilities. (OECD, 2002) These measures in the OECD guide have been linked to improved fiscal stability and lower debt ratios of governments in developing countries. For instance, Kopits and Craig (1998) assert that, â€Å"better-performing countries (those with better debt ratios and higher levels of FDI)†¦ generally follow more transparent fiscal norms.† Similarly, Alesina, Hausmann, Hommes, and Stein (1996) find that budget institutions do affect fiscal outcomes. They explain that more hierarchical (as defined by their index) budget institutions produce lower debt to GNP ratios. From this we can extrapolate that a key condition for entities willingness to engage in foreign direct investment is met by increasing budget transparency, through increasing currency stability as well as balancing government accounts. Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 A closely related determinant of foreign direct investment is domestic fiscal norms in the recipient economy. Conceivably, entities wishing to engage in foreign direct investment would evaluate not only the current fiscal conditions of a recipient economy, but also the fluctuations in this fiscal regime. Viewing highly unstable fiscal conditions as a far higher risk, these entities would then prioritize their investments accordingly. Working under this assumption, we can see how the OECD budget transparency guidelines both improve fiscal outcomes, as well as stabilize the budget process, providing for long run fiscal stability. In Fiscal Discipline and the Budget Process (1996) Alesina and Perotti hypothesize that the implementation of budget transparency and a normative budget process should improve long-run fiscal performance. Using these findings as a working assumption, we can draw a clear parallel from specific elements of the OECD Best Practices of Budget Transparency and impro ved long-run fiscal performance. More specifically, we can see that stipulations corresponding to medium-term expenditure frameworks, and the long-term report of government fiscal challenges –including demographics among other things- should in theory stabilize the budgetary process, and thus the fiscal situation in the long-run. Lastly, we will turn out attention to a fuzzy term, namely the â€Å"quality of governance† indicator used in so many studies, as well as its subsidiary parts. As mentioned in prior sections, the â€Å"quality of governance† indicators, as well as its sub components were shown to have a highly statistically significant effect on net inflows of foreign direct investment. This broad index covers many areas of interest; these include variables such as political stability, level of democratization, and the â€Å"policy environment.† For the purposes of this essay however, we will be looking at specifically government corruption, the risk of expropriation, and how budget transparency affects these variables, as well as quality of governance in a broad perspective. Looking at budget transparency and government corruption first, we see that the literature on government transparency and corruption is extensive. In Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries? (2008), Ivar Kolstad and Arne Wiig explore transparency as a means to push Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 developing countries out of the resource paradox. They conclude that, â€Å"Transparency can reduce bureaucratic corruption by making corrupt acts more risky, by making it easier to provide good incentives to public officials, and by easing selection of honest and efficient people for public service.† (Kolstad, 2008) This is especially important within the context of developing economies because these economies have a higher probability of being highly resource dependent. Within the context of the OECD standards for budget transparency, expenditure is classified by administrative unit, financial liabilities are more acutely planned for and the development of more thorough employee compensation obligations provides that government administrators are thus less likely to experience gaps or disruptions in compensation. Furthermore, adhering to budget transparency norms reduces the risk of embezzlement of government funds by creating a clear and routine audit framework. The additional oversight mentioned above can also help to mitigate the risk of expropriation of foreign actors wishing to engage in foreign direct investment. In Democracy, Autocracy, and Expropriation of Foreign Direct Investment (2009), Quan Li explains that â€Å"†¦governments are most likely to expropriate foreign investment when leaders face little political constraint.† While Quan Li works directly with variables found very often in expropriation literature, -namely rule of law, property rights, investment behaviors, and privatization reforms- I would make the argument that budget transparency helps to mitigate the likelihood of expropriation through better revenue stream planning, as well as the imposition of government fiscal norms. Foreign entities are most at risk of expropriation when operating in countries with unstable fiscal balance sheets, which implies both poor budget transparency and inadequate fiscal norms. In recent history, a prime example of this phe nomenon was Hugo Chavez of Venezuela ordered the nationalization of oil production operations owned by two foreign firms. According to the International Budget Partnership Venezuela, â€Å"lacks information on fiscal activities†¦ including extra-budgetary funds, and quasi-fiscal activities.† (IBP, 2011) This lack of transparency would imply very few constraints on political Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 leader’s ability to affect fiscal and economic conditions in Venezuela, which likely contributed to the expropriation of private firms for political purposes. In summarizing budget transparencies effect on determinants of foreign direct investment, we should briefly note that all of the above factors affect the risk inherent when a foreign entity is deciding whether or not to invest in a recipient economy. Currency considerations, the stability of domestic fiscal norms, quality of governance –more specifically corruption and risk of expropriation- are all mitigated by properly enacted budget transparency measures. Using the OECD’s guide to budget transparency I have outlined which elements of the guide apply to each of the above determinants. Going further, we can talk briefly about the applicability of these reforms within the context of developing economies. In Budgeting in Poor Countries: Ten Common Assumptions Re-examined (1980), Naomi Caiden challenges many common budgeting assumptions relevant to the context of developing economies. Most importantly for our purposes, are the assumptions dealing with national economic planning and inadequate resources. Caiden explains that national economic planning with regard to budgeting norms should be used to coordinate development objectives. This argument holds merit in that extremely detailed development plans require vast resources, expertise and foresight by governments that are typically short of all three in one way or another. This same argument holds true for countries with a sever lack of resources- both expertise and financial. However, I would argue against this line of thought on the basis that increased foreign direct investment offsets the costs of implementing budget transparency. Increases in revenue, technological and management spillovers (Aitken, 1999), increased productivity of domestic firms, combined with the other benefits of budget transparency, especially with regard to improved fiscal performance and an increase in quality of governance; the benefits should outweigh the costs in the minds of most policy makers. Budget Transparency and FDI, Case Study evidence from Uganda: We now move to an in-depth case study of Uganda to show how the effects of budget transparency can directly increase levels of foreign direct investment. Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 Uganda is a sub-Saharan African nation that has seen considerable political and economic turmoil over the last fifty years. Throughout much of the 1960s Uganda had a robust economy; however political instability, poor macroeconomic policies by its government, and economic shocks with roots in the global market quickly deteriorated this advantageous economic situation. Due to these factors, chief among them poor macroeconomic policy, the 1970s and 1980s experienced high levels of inflation due to dramatic mismanagement of public debts. (Kuteesa, 2006) The greatest factor in this period of economic destabilization was the government was printing money to finance public sector deficits, which lead to very high rates of inflation. (Mwenda, 2005) As a result of these economic problems Uganda’s net flow of foreign direct investment flat lined at zero percent of GDP. (World Bank) Furthermore, industrial production fell by 3.9% annually from 1983-86. This decline in industry made Ugan da more heavily dependent on agriculture which was also experiencing poor performance due to the economic conditions. (Mwenda, 2005) However, in 1987 Uganda –with the help of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other donors- initiated an Economic Recovery Programme whose aim was to, reduce inflation, balance the budget, and implement sound fiscal and monetary policy. (Kuteesa, 2006) These policies had a dramatic effect on the Ugandan economy, producing healthy GDP growth since the late 1980s. With the stabilization of the currency, improved public debt management, and a clear adherence to thoughtful fiscal norms, foreign direct investment began to grow in the few years following the reforms. However, it is very important to note that the Economic Recovery Programme overseen by the IMF and World Bank did not produce immediate rises in foreign direct investment. Indeed this economic reform package was implemented in 1987 and Uganda did not see any significant increase in net inflows of foreign direct investment until 1993. (World Bank) Hence there is a six year gap where serious economic recovery wasn’t enough to entice foreign entities to invest in Uganda, despite the improvement in public debt management and the curbing of inflation. Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 Although, in the end of 1992 beginning of 1993 Uganda embarked on a reform scheme aimed at increasing budgetary discipline. These changes to the budget system included, enhancing fiscal discipline, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditures, improved financial management and accountability, and finally, improving transparency and openness of the national budget processes. (Mwenda, 2005) As consistent with the OECD guide to budget transparency, the Ugandan government adopted a clearly defined system of cash accounting, overseen a realignment of policy objectives to an outcome/output orientation, undertaking clear public expenditure reviews (performance auditing), and lastly increased the scrutiny of parliament through the newly formed Parliamentary Committee on the Budget. In adopting these reforms, many of which explicitly outlined in the OECD guide to budget transparency, we can see a noticeable effect on all of our aforementioned determinants of foreign direct in vestment. The Ugandan currency (shilling) has experienced stable rates of inflation, around 4.6%. (World Bank) The level of corruption in Uganda while still quite widespread is on par with that of its neighboring countries. Further, the perception of corruption in Uganda has become less and less accepted over the past decade. (Transparency International) Crucially on the topic of corruption, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have stated that as African governments adopt reforms aimed at budget transparency and various administrative reforms would, â€Å"lead to the emergence of a smaller and more competent state, one in which there would be fewer opportunities for corrupt behavior.† (Mwenda, 2005) The dramatic budgetary reforms, along with the macroeconomic corrections, have produced stable and predictable fiscal norms, as well as fiscal decentralization within Uganda. In 1993 -just after these budgetary reforms-, Uganda began to see levels of foreign direct investment for the first time in almost twenty years. Recently, the International Budget Partnership (UBP) has shown an increase in the level of budget transparency in Uganda. From a score of 31% on the budget transparency scale (0-100%), the Ugandan government has steadily increased its level of budget transparency to 55% as of the latest survey in 2010. According to Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 the IBP, Uganda publishes a comprehensive citizens budget document, publishes decent (grade of C) In-Year Reports, produces a very substantive (grade of A) Pre-Budget Statement and enacts the national budget in a clear and concise manner which has the rule of law once enacted. Since improving its budget transparency index, and putting fiscal practice in line with international best practice –as outlined by the OECD- Uganda has predictably seen a sizeable increase in net in-flows of foreign direct investment, growing from just 2% of GDP to over 7% of GDP over the last decade. (World Bank) Conclusions and Implications: In this essay I attempted to summarize the theoretical determinants of foreign direct investment, connect them to OECD best practices of budget transparency, and then link the two together in a clear and concise real world case study –Uganda. In summarizing the determinants of FDI, we can see that currency strength, domestic fiscal norms, level of corruption, risk of expropriation all contribute to, and are interconnected to the risk inherent in undertaking foreign direct investment. We should care about this topic because in the current fiscal climate, governments around the world are cutting expenditure making foreign aid to developing countries less and less sustainable while such economic uncertainties exist. Thus, it is important for developing economies and the governments wishing for better outcomes for their people to find alternative modes of development revenue, foreign direct investment provides such revenue. Along with increased revenue, FDI in developing economies also provides numerous positive spillovers which include, technological and managerial gains by domestic firms, increased domestic production, and increased downstream profits for domestic enterprise. However, there is some serious resource problems associated with undertaking budgeting reforms. As mentioned above, I believe that the benefits vastly outweigh the costs of undertaking such reforms. Adopting budget transparency has led to more favorable fiscal and monetary outcomes, a check on corruption, better governance, increased citizen involvement, and the subject of this essay, increased FDI. Budget transparency should be seen as a priority for developing countries. It is Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 not however a panacea, or a fix all for developing countries. Budget transparency can be seen however as a substantial first step towards integration into the world economy through increases in FDIs and a first step towards getting out of the resource/aid paradox for developing nations. Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 References * Aitken, Brian J. and Harrison, Ann E. 1999. Do Domestic Firms Benefit from Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence from Venezuela American Economic Review, Vol. 89, No. 3 pp. 605-618 * Alesina, Alberto and Perotti, Roberto 1996. Fiscal Discipline and the Budget Process, American Economic Review, Vol. 86, No. 2 * Alesina, Alberto, Hausmann, Ricardo, Rudolf, Hommes, and Stein, Ernesto. 1996. Budget Institutions and Fiscal Performance in Latin America. Working Paper 5586, National Bureau of Economic Research.. 447-465 * Allen, Richard. 1996. The Challenge of Reforming Budgetary Institutions in Developing Countries IMF Working Paper, Fiscal Affairs Department *Asiedu, Elizabeth. 2001. On the Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries: Is Africa Different? World Development Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 107-119. * Biswas, Romita. 2002. Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment. Review of Development Economics, 6(3), 492–504 * Blalock, Garrick and Gertler, Paul J. 2008. Welfare gains from Foreign Direct Investment through technological transfer to local suppliers. Journal of International Economics Vol. 74 pp. 402-421. * Blondal, Jon R. 2003 Budget Reform in OECD Member Countries: Common Trends. OECD Journal on Budgeting Vol.2, No. 4 * Blonigen, Bruce A. 1997. Firm-Specific Assets and the Link between Exchange Rates and Foreign Direct Investment. The American Economic Review, Vol. 87, No. 3 pp * Borensztein, Gregorio, and Lee. 1998. How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? Journal of International Economics Vol. 45 pp. 115–135 Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 * Busse, Matthias and Hefeker, Carsten. 2007. Political risk, institutions and foreign direct investment. European Journal of Political Economy Vol. 23 pp. 397-415. * Caiden, Naomi. 1980. Budgeting in Poor Countries: Ten Common Assumptions Re-Examined, Public Administration Review, Vol. 40, No. 1 pp. 40-46 * Demekas, Dimitri G., Horvth, Balzs., Ribakova, Elina., Wu, Yi. 2007. Foreign Direct Investment in European transition economies- The role of policies. Journal of Comparative Economics 35 (200 * Duce, Maitena and Espaà ±a, Banco de. 2003. Definitions of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI):a methodological note Banco de Espaà ±a, International Economics and International Relations Department. * Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Market Countries. (2003) Report of the Working Group of the Capital Markets Consultative Group. * Hameed, Farhan. 2005. Fiscal Transparency and Economic Outcomes. International Monetary Fund Working Paper. WP/05/225 7) 369–386 * International Budget Partnership. Uganda Info. internationalbudget.org/what-we-do/open-budget-survey/?fa=countryDetailsid=2311countryID=UG * Jarmuzek, M. 2006. Does Fiscal Transparency Matter? The Evidence from Transition Economies. Warsaw, Poland: Center for Social and Economic Research. * Javorcik, Beata Smarzynska. 2004 Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages. The American Economic Review Vol. 94 No. 3, pp. 605-627. * Kopits and Craig (1998) Transparency in Government Operations. International Monetary Fund. Occational Paper 158. * Kolstad, Ivar and Wiig, Arne. 2008. Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries? World Development Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 521-532. * Kraan, Dirk-Jan. 2004. Off-budget and Tax Expenditures. OECD Journal on Budgeting Vol.4, No. 1 Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 * Kuteesa, Florence, Magona, Ishmael, Wanyera, Maris and Wokadala, James. 2006. Uganda: A Decade of Budget Reform and Poverty Reduction. OECD Journal on Budgeting Vol 6 No. 2. * Li, Quan 2009. Democracy, Autocracy, and Expropriation of Foreign Direct Investment. Comparative Political Studies 2009 42: 1098 * Lizondo, Saul J. 1990. Foreign Direct Investment. International Monetary Fund Working Paper. WP/90/63. * Markusen, James R., Venables, Anthony J. 1999. Foreign direct investment as a catalyst for industrial development. European Economic Review Vol. 43, pp. 335-356 * Mello, Luiz R. de Jr. 1999. Foreign direct investment-led growth: evidence from time series and panel data. Oxford Economic Papers 51, pp. 133-151. * Mwenda, Andrew M. and Tangri, Roger. 2005. Patronage Politics, Donor Reforms, and Regime Consolidation in Uganda. African Affairs, 104/416, pp. 449-467. * OECD Best Practices for Budget Transparency. 2002. OECD Journal on Budgeting. 1(3): 7-14. * Ram, Rati and Zhang, Kevin Honglin. 2002. Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth: Evidence from Cross†Country Data for the 1990s. Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 51, No. 1 pp. 205-215 * Renzio, Paolo de, Gomez, Pamela and Sheppard, James.2009. Budget transparency and development in resource-dependent countries UNESCO 2009. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. * Schneider, Friedrich and Frey, Bruno S. 1985. Economic and Political determinants of Foreign Direct Investment. World Development, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 161-175, * Transparency International Global Corruption Report(s). transparency.org/publications/gcr * Walsh, James P. and Yu, Jiangyan. 2010 Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment: A Sectoral and Institutional Approach. IMF Working Paper, Asia Pacific Department. WP/10/187. Budget Transparency Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries 2011 * World Bank Data Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator

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Cal State Channel Islands Admissions, Acceptance Rate California State University-Channel Islands (CSUCI)  does not require scores from the SAT or ACT as part of their application. Students need to fill out an application for the California State University system, indicating which campuses they are applying to. Channel Islands has an acceptance rate of 78  percent. Students with grades above average and a number of extracurricular activities have an excellent chance of being accepted. Will You Get In? Calculate Your Chances of Getting In  with this free tool from Cappex Admissions Data (2017) Cal State Channel Islands Acceptance Rate: 78 percentCSUCI GPA, SAT and ACT Score GraphCompare Cal State SAT ScoresCompare Cal State ACT Scores CSUCI Description CSUCI, the California State University, Channel Islands, was founded in 2002 and is the youngest of the  23 universities in the Cal State system. The university is located in Camarillo, Northwest of Los Angeles. The university offers over 20 majors; business, social sciences and liberal arts are equally popular among undergraduates. CSUCI is proud of its interaction between students and faculty, and the curriculum emphasizes experiential and service learning. The school currently has the second lowest enrollment of the Cal State campuses, but significant growth is projected in the coming decades. Enrollment (2017) Total Enrollment: 7,455  (7,054 undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 38 percent male / 64 percent female83 percent full-time Costs (2017 - 18) Tuition and Fees: $6,817 (in-state); $18,697 (out-of-state)Books: $1,948 (why so much?)Room and Board: $16,954Other Expenses: $2,902Total Cost: $28,621 (in-state); $40,501 (out-of-state) CSUCI Financial Aid (2016- 17) Percentage of Students Receiving Aid: 81 percentPercentage of Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 72 percentLoans: 47 percentAverage Amount of Aid​Grants: $8,747Loans: $5,742 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors:  Art, Biology, Business Administration, English, History, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Psychology, SociologyWhat major is right for you?  Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Transfer, Graduation and Retention Rates First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 79 percentTransfer Out Rate: 7 percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 26 percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 59 percent If You Like Cal State Channel Islands, You May Also Like These Schools University of California - Santa Cruz: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphOccidental College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of the Pacific: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphWestmont College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBiola University: Profile  California Lutheran University: Profile  Menlo College: Profile  Scripps College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph Admissions Profiles for Other Cal State Campuses Bakersfield  | Channel Islands  | Chico  | Dominquez Hills  | East Bay  | Fresno State  | Fullerton  | Humboldt  | Long Beach  | Los Angeles  | Maritime  | Monterey Bay  | Northridge  | Pomona (Cal Poly)  | Sacramento  | San Bernardino  | San Diego  | San Francisco  | San Jose  | San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly)  | San Marcos  | Sonoma State  | Stanislaus More California Public University Information SAT Score Comparison for Cal State SchoolsACT Score Comparison for Cal State SchoolsThe University of California SystemSAT Score Comparison for the UC SystemACT Score Comparison for the UC System Data Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Microbiology review paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microbiology review - Research Paper Example Some of these factors include the fact that the virus tends to disappear from the tissues of the severely ill patients, and thrives in patients who have been mildly affected (Halstead, 1965), while studies have been made on the tissues of the terminally ill patients (Halstead, 1965). Also, the virus does not reproduce in the effected tissues, but in healthy tissues that are often ignored during collection and isolation (Halstead, 1965). Despite these limitations, at least four different strains of the virus have been isolated, namely type 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Halstead, 1965). The vector for the virus is the Aedes aegypti mosquito in most of the cases (Halstead, 1965). There are other species of the mosquitoes which might or might not serve as vectors, depending on the geographical location of the mosquito population and the dominance of the species (Halstead, 1965). Due to the nature of the vector, Dengue can also be refereed to as a mosquito-borne hemorrhagic fever (Halstead, 1965), howe ver, this term is not preferred over Dengue fever (Halstead, 1965). Epidemiology: The recent technique is to divide the virus epidemiologically into three groups, depending on the types and degree of illnesses that it causes (Rico-Hesse, 2003). If it remains dormant in the human host with almost negligible transmissibility, it can be termed as low-level virus (Rico-Hesse, 2003). If it causes Dengue fever only, it is a medium-level virus (Rico-Hesse, 2003). If it produces the more potent form of the disease, that is Dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, it is a high-level virus (Rico-Hesse, 2003). The potential of transmission and, hence, the epidemiology of the virus increases with the increase in the level (Rico-Hesse, 2003). The factors for this increase could be the immunological and genetic disposition of the host, and the ability of the virus to replicate progressively in the vector (Rico-Hesse, 2003). The region of the world that is most prone to the epidemics of Dengue hemorrhagic fever and shock is Southeast Asia, affecting predominantly children (Ramos, Garcia, & Villaseca, 1993). However, the epidemics are not merely restricted to this region; some of the most significant outbreaks have been reported in Cuba, Venezuela, and Brazil (Ramos et al., 1993). Other countries or regions where the disease has been reported include Greece, South Africa_ Durbin, Formosa, Bengok, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore (Halstead, 1965). A recent outbreak, in 2004, was reported from Fuzhou, China (Yan et al., 2006). It is interesting to note that no cases have yet been reported from East Pakistan, Indonesia, and Burma (Halstead, 1965). Symptoms: A detailed study of the course of action of the virus and the symptoms of the disease and their causes is beyond the scope of this paper. However, an attempt will be made to succinctly present the course of the disease. Stage 1: The virus is contracted as a result of mosquito bite (Halstead, 1965). This induces a p eriod of viral replication and reproduction as a result of which the patient becomes febrile for three or four days (Halstead, 1965). There is extensive damage to the capillaries, more than is incurred in the usual viral infections (Halstead, 1965). Stage 2: Due to reasons not yet identified, there is extensive damage to the liver, more than there is in the other organs of the body (Halstead, 1965), although the toxic conditions in the body effect the

Russia and China Foreign Policies on Central Asia Research Paper

Russia and China Foreign Policies on Central Asia - Research Paper Example The interest that China has in Central Asia is not new. The course of the interest in Central Asia entails their concern to extent control over the territory as well as control the territorial security. The sign of interest in this complex advancement is evident from the sustained rhythm of successive visits, since the first tour of Prime Minister Li Peng in 1994. Thus, the guiding thread of China’s foreign policy in relation to Central Asia is essentially to achieve â€Å"stability†. The country of China exists in a political territory that continues to experience restlessness from je frontier zones to the periphery, despite the ending of the Cold War, a course that raises new series of risks. The collapse of the Soviet system and eventual independence of the Central Asian republics marked a remarkable fragmentation of the region in additional to continued autonomisation of the entire region. The effect is that a multitude of opportunities that existed and the stakes entailed for the Peoples Republic of China received a remarkable blow, becoming rather complicated (Lanteigne, 2009). The course is that the movement towards achieving the foreign policy compromises is yet far from conclusions. Another concept entailed in the foreign policy regarding Central Asia is the end of the communism practice in 1989 I the USSR, which in effect granted the republics in the Central Asia region greater liberty (Lanteigne, 2009). Moreover, this development unfortunately coincided with the resurgence of the democratic calls entailed in Beijing, which marked a beginning of a period of agitation in China and the larger region. Notably, the disappearance of the Soviet threat in the region from the end of the Cold War marked the beginning of bilateral relations of the dimensions between China and Central Asia. The course in the 1990s, seemed to take a positive direction as China sought to weave

Argumentative Essay: Guns Do NOT Kill People :: Argumentative Persuasive Gun Control

Many stories like the following occur, but are hardly every published: Three robbers entered a Commerce City, Colo., residence, one of them pulled a knife, according to officials. The two men and a woman apparently had planned to rob an acquaintance: but the homeowner resisted the threat, drawing his semiautomatic handgun and shooting the two men. After the three fled, they called for medical help from a cousin's house. The police followed shortly thereafter. "As soon as they get out of the hospital, we'll be there to meet and greet them," said Sgt. Craig Coleman of the Adams County Sheriff's Dept. (rifleman) These are two of many different stories that are produced monthly by the magazine American Rifleman. Every issue gives 4 to 7 stories on how handgun's save lives everyday. There are many people who believe that a handgun can save your life, but there also people who believe that they are just used for bad guys to kill. The Constitution states that we have the right to keep and bare arms, but there are some groups that have decided that is not right. They will do whatever it takes to change Amendment 2. This year there was a new gun law added to the long list of gun laws. In Colorado and Oregon the law was passed with a huge margin. The law states that you can not buy a gun at a gun show without a background check, and for it to be a gun show there only needs to be 3 or more people. So, in other words many of the police officers in the world will now be breaking the law when the switch guns with other officers. For instance, there are four officers standing around at the police station, and a couple of them decided to try out each others gun for a day or two. Under this new law, the officers have now broken the law. Many gun owners say there is no need for this new law. The NRA and many other pro-gun groups did everything they could try and make sense of it to people. Even after spending almost 2 million dollars, they still failed. (Kleck). Sarah Brady, Chair of Handgun Control, Inc, was quoted when she said, " These two overwhelming victories clearly demonstrate that al l Americans, including gun owners, support responsible gun laws which keep criminals from buying guns.

Interpersonal and Transferable Skills Essay

You’re probably familiar with the phrase ‘what gets measured gets done.’ Defining and measuring effectiveness – especially the performance of workers – is a critical part of your job as a manager. The question is: How do you define the skills, behaviors, and attitudes that workers need to perform their roles effectively? How do you know they’re qualified for the job? In other words, how do you know what to measure? Some people think formal education is a reliable measure. Others believe more in on-the-job training, and years of experience. Still others might argue that personal characteristics hold the key to effective work behavior. All of these are important, but none seems sufficient to describe an ideal set of behaviors and traits needed for any particular role. Nor do they guarantee that individuals will perform to the standards and levels required by the organization. A more complete way of approaching this is to link individual performance to the goals of the business. To do this, many companies use ‘competencies.’ These are the integrated knowledge, skills, judgment, and attributes that people need to perform a job effectively. By having a defined set of competencies for each role in your business, it shows workers the kind of behaviors the organization values, and which it requires to help achieve its objectives. Not only can your team members work more effectively and achieve their potential, but there are many business benefits to be had from linking personal performance with corporate goals and values. Defining which competencies are necessary for success in your organization can help you do the following: †¢ Ensure that your people demonstrate sufficient expertise. †¢ Recruit and select new staff more effectively. †¢ Evaluate performance more effectively. †¢ Identify skill and competency gaps more efficiently. †¢ Provide more customized training and professional development. †¢ Plan sufficiently for succession. †¢ Make change management processes work more efficiently. How can you define the set of practices needed for effective performance? You can do this by adding a competency framework to your talent management program. By collecting and combining competency information, you can create a standardized approach to performance that’s clear and accessible to everyone in the company. The framework outlines specifically what people need to do to be effective in their roles, and it clearly establishes how their roles relate to organizational goals and success. This article outlines the steps you need to take to develop a competency framework in your organization. Design Principles of a Competency Framework A competency framework defines the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed for people within an organization. Each individual role will have its own set of competencies needed to perform the job effectively. To develop this framework, you need to have an in-depth understanding of the roles within your business. To do this, you can take a few different approaches: †¢ Use a pre-set list of common, standard competencies, and then customize it to the specific needs of your organization. †¢ Use outside consultants to develop the framework for you. †¢ Create a general organizational framework, and use it as the basis for other frameworks as needed. Developing a competency framework can take considerable effort. To make sure the framework is actually used as needed, it’s important to make it relevant to the people who’ll be using it – and so they can take ownership of it. The following three principles are critical when designing a competency framework: 1. Involve the people doing the work – These frameworks should not be developed solely by HR people, who don’t always know what each job actually involves. Nor should they be left to managers, who don’t always understand exactly what each member of their staff does every day. To understand a role fully, you have to go to the source – the person doing the job – as well as getting a variety of other inputs into what makes someone successful in that job. 2. Communicate – People tend to get nervous about performance issues. Let them know why you’re developing the framework, how it will be created, and how you’ll use it. The more you communicate in advance, the easier your implementation will be. 3. Use relevant competencies – Ensure that the competencies you include apply to all roles covered by the framework. If you include irrelevant competencies, people will probably have a hard time relating to the framework in general. For example, if you created a framework to cover the whole organization, then financial management would not be included unless every worker had to demonstrate that skill. However, a framework covering management roles would almost certainly involve the financial management competency. Developing the Framework There are four main steps in the competency framework development process. Each steps has key actions that will encourage people to accept and use the final product. Step One: Prepare †¢ Define the purpose – Before you start analyzing jobs, and figuring out what each role needs for success, make sure you look at the purpose for creating the framework. How you plan to use it will impact whom you involve in preparing it, and how you determine its scope. For example, a framework for filling a job vacancy will be very specific, whereas a framework for evaluating compensation will need to cover a wide range of roles. †¢ Create a competency framework team – Include people from all areas of your business that will use the framework. Where possible, aim to represent the diversity of your organization. It’s also important to think about long-term needs, so that you can keep the framework updated and relevant. Step Two: Collect Information This is the main part of the framework. Generally, the better the data you collect, the more accurate your framework will be. For this reason, it’s a good idea to consider which techniques you’ll use to collect information about the roles, and the work involved in each one. You may want to use the following: †¢ Observe – Watch people while they’re performing their roles. This is especially useful for jobs that involve hands-on labor that you can physically observe. †¢ Interview people – Talk to every person individually, choose a sample of people to interview, or conduct a group interview. You may also want to interview the supervisor of the job you’re assessing. This helps you learn what a wide variety of people believe is needed for the role’s success. †¢ Create a questionnaire – A survey is an efficient way to gather data. Spend time making sure you ask the right questions, and consider the issues of reliability and validity. If you prefer, there are standardized job analysis questionnaires you can buy, rather than attempting to create your own. †¢ Analyze the work – Which behaviors are used to perform the jobs covered by the framework? You may want to consider the following: †¢ Business plans, strategies, and objectives. †¢ Organizational principles. †¢ Job descriptions. †¢ Regulatory or other compliance issues. †¢ Predictions for the future of the organization or industry. †¢ Customer and supplier requirements. Job analysis that includes a variety of techniques and considerations will give you the most comprehensive and accurate results. If you create a framework for the entire organization, make sure you use a sample of roles from across the company. This will help you capture the widest range of competencies that are still relevant to the whole business. †¢ As you gather information about each role, record what you learn in separate behavioral statements. For example, if you learn that Paul from accounting is involved in bookkeeping, you might break that down into these behavioral statements: handles petty cash, maintains floats, pays vendors according to policy, and analyzes cash books each month. You might find that other roles also have similar tasks – and therefore bookkeeping will be a competency within that framework. †¢ When you move on to Step Three, you’ll be organizing the information into larger competencies, so it helps if you can analyze and group your raw data effectively. Step Three: Build the Framework This stage involves grouping all of the behaviors and skill sets into competencies. Follow these steps to help you with this task: †¢ Group the statements – Ask your team members to read through the behavior statements, and group them into piles. The goal is to have three or four piles at first – for instance, manual skills, decision-making and judgment skills, and interpersonal skills. †¢ Create subgroups – Break down each of the larger piles into subcategories of related behaviors. Typically, there will be three or four subgroupings for each larger category. This provides the basic structure of the competency framework. †¢ Refine the subgroups – For each of the larger categories, define the subgroups even further. Ask yourself why and how the behaviors relate, or don’t relate, to one another, and revise your groupings as necessary. †¢ Indentify and name the competencies – Ask your team to identify a specific competency to represent each of the smaller subgroups of behaviors. Then they can also name the larger category. †¢ Here’s an example of groupings and subgroupings for general management competencies: †¢ Supervising and leading teams. †¢ Provide ongoing direction and support to staff. †¢ Take initiative to provide direction. †¢ Communicate direction to staff. †¢ Monitor performance of staff. †¢ Motivate staff. †¢ Develop succession plan. †¢ Ensure that company standards are met. †¢ Recruiting and staffing. †¢ Prepare job descriptions and role specifications. †¢ Participate in selection interviews. †¢ Identify individuals’ training needs. †¢ Implement disciplinary and grievance procedures. †¢ Ensure that legal obligations are met. †¢ Develop staff contracts. †¢ Develop salary scales and compensation packages. †¢ Develop personnel management procedures. †¢ Make sure staff resources meet organizational needs. †¢ Training and development. †¢ Deliver training to junior staff. †¢ Deliver training to senior staff. †¢ Identify training needs. †¢ Support personal development. †¢ Develop training materials and methodology. †¢ Managing projects/programs †¢ Prepare detailed operational plans. †¢ Manage financial and human resources. †¢ Monitor overall performance against objectives. †¢ Write reports, project proposals, and amendments. †¢ Understand external funding environment. †¢ Develop project/program strategy. You may need to add levels for each competency. This is particularly useful when using the framework for compensation or performance reviews. To do so, take each competency, and divide the related behaviors into measurement scales according to complexity, responsibility, scope, or other relevant criteria. These levels may already exist if you have job grading in place. †¢ Validate and revise the competencies as necessary – For each item, ask these questions: †¢ Is this behavior demonstrated by people who perform the work most effectively? In other words, are people who don’t demonstrate this behavior ineffective in the role? †¢ Is this behavior relevant and necessary for effective work performance? These questions are often asked in the form of a survey. It’s important to look for consensus among the people doing the job, as well as areas where there’s little agreement. Also, look for possible issues with language, or the way the competencies are described, and refine those as well. Step Four: Implement As you roll out the finalized competency framework, remember the principle of communication that we mentioned earlier. To help get buy-in from members of staff at all levels of the organization, it’s important to explain to them why the framework was developed, and how you’d like it to be used. Discuss how it will be updated, and which procedures you’ve put in place to accommodate changes. Here are some tips for implementing the framework: †¢ Link to business objectives – Make connections between individual competencies and organizational goals and values as much as possible. †¢ Reward the competencies – Check that your policies and practices support and reward the competencies identified. †¢ Provide coaching and training – Make sure there’s adequate coaching and training available. People need to know that their efforts will be supported. †¢ Keep it simple – Make the framework as simple as possible. You want the document to be used, not filed away and forgotten. †¢ Communicate – Most importantly, treat the implementation as you would any other change initiative. The more open and honest you are throughout the process, the better the end result – and the better the chances of the project achieving your objectives. [pic] Key Points Creating a competency framework is an effective method to assess, maintain, and monitor the knowledge, skills, and attributes of people in your organization. The framework allows you to measure current competency levels to make sure your staff members have the expertise needed to add value to the business. It also helps managers make informed decisions about talent recruitment, retention, and succession strategies. And, by identifying the specific behaviors and skills needed for each role, it enables you to budget and plan for the training and development your company really needs. The process of creating a competency framework is long and complex. To ensure a successful outcome, involve people actually doing carrying out the roles to evaluate real jobs, and describe real behaviors.

Apple Pay Free Essay Example, 2000 words

This is a flagship mobile payment service that was rolled out by the tech giant in October 2014 to allow particular smartphone users to make payments using their devices in various retail stores. Precisely, it is available for use by those that have iPhone 6, 6s, 6s plus, 7, 7 plus and SE. with these devices, there is an NFC chip that has been attached and it helps users from specific countries to pay for goods and services in selected retail stores. With just a screen touch, a user is capable of making payments using their debit and credit cards in a convenient and safe way since the credit card details are not shared by Apple to any third party. Besides iPhones, the service also works with the Apple watch, making it one of the most versatile mobile payment solutions in the world today. Whereas it has not spread to a significant number of countries, Apple pay has recorded a lot of success in nations such as China, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Russia and the United States (Macworld, 2016). In multiple press releases, the CEO has confessed that over one million new users are subscribing to the service each week and it will soon be available on the web such that users that have no access to the iOS operating system can benefit from the service as well. Benefits of Apple PayIt is highly secureThis is an advantage that is enjoyed by both individual users and e-commerce businesses. We will write a custom essay sample on Apple Pay or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page