National and Global Finance Essay

1. Choose an example of a type of new company you could start, and then use this company idea to answer the questions below. You might choose a pet store, a restaurant, a tutoring business, or something else. This can be the same type of company you chose in assignment 8 or 9, or it can be different. a. Describe the type of business you chose. (1-2 sentences.) -A grocery store. b. Describe at least two ways in which the local, state, or federal government would have an impact on your business. (2-4 sentences.) -The state government would impact my business’s profit because we have to pay taxes for what we sell. -The federal government would impact my business because I would need to make sure that my store is up to safety standards by the CPSC. 2. Describe at least one advantage and one disadvantage of price ceilings and price floors. Do you think price ceilings and floors are more helpful or more harmful to consumers and the economy? Explain. (2-4 sentences. ) -One advantage of the price ceiling is that people won’t be paying outrageous prices for things they need, one disadvantage is that they could be set too low for the company to make enough money. I think that the floors and ceilings help the economy and are more helpful for the consumers, if there were none, then a company could charge 10 dollars for a gallon of gasoline, which would cause people to not want to buy gas, even though some people are paying that amount, a lot less people would be buying gas so the company, economy, and consumers would all be hurt. 3. Describe at least two negative outcomes of having too little money and credit in the economy. (2-4 sentences. ) -It makes it so that banks can’t lend out as much money, if there is no money to be lent out, entrepreneurs can’t make investments and people can’t buy things like houses as easily, this causes a cycle where  the economy grows slowly 4. Describe at least two negative outcomes of having too much money and credit in the economy. (2-4 sentences. ) – Inflation happens, that’s when the value of the dollar raises, not everyone gets higher wages when that happens, but things end up getting more expensive, causing consumers not to buy stuff. 5. Which Fed tool do you think is most important, and why? (2-4 sentences.) -Probably the Reserve Requirements, if they didn’t have that the bank would be able to screw the government and anyone who uses the bank. 6. Choose one of the following government agencies or laws: FTC, EPA, FDA, CPSC, OSHA, FLSA, EEOC, ADA, SEC, or Affirmative Action. Search online to learn more about the agency or law, and then describe three specific things the law or agency accomplishes. Make sure the information comes from a trustworthy website. Include a link to the website in your answer. (3-6 sentences.) -The EPA is all about helping and protecting nature and our selves, they have passed many laws to keep us safe. Some of these laws include: C.A.A., or the Clean Air Act. This is a Federal law they passed to make sure we’re not releasing too much emission into the air, or releasing really bad things. Another law they have passed is the C.W.A., or Clean Water Act, this is also a Federal law, it protects our water systems from getting infested with pollution and toxic chemicals, without this we could lose our fishing locations and fresh drinking water. The last law they have passed that I am going to share is the E.S.A., or better known as the Endangered Species Act, this is a lot like the other two acts, but specifically targets endangered species from going extinct. Whether they’re plants, animals, or aquatic life, this law protects species in low numbers from being hunted, destroyed, or sought after. 7. Describe  at least two products that are commonly imported into the United States. (1-2 sentences.) -Oil from the Middle East is often imported to the U.S., another product that is commonly imported from other counties is a lot of different foreign cars and car parts from companies like Toyota. 8. Describe at least two products that are commonly exported from the United States to other countries. (1-2 sentences. ) -Aircrafts, a lot of military and commercial planes & helicopters are exported from the U.S. to many different countries. 9. Why does the U.S. government encourage U.S. companies to sell their products in other countries? Explain how this helps the U.S. (2-4 sentences.) -It does so because the more U.S. products going to other continents and nations the more tax money comes in for the U.S.; the more tax money, the better our economy does. 10. Find the value of one U.S. dollar in a foreign currency. You might choose the Euro, the Japanese Yen, the Canadian dollar, or another currency. List the type of currency and the current value of the U.S. dollar in that country. – $1.00 USD has the buying power of â‚ ¹59.28 INR (Indian Rupee.) 11. Describe at least three exchange rate factors that are likely to attract foreign investors to a country’s currency. Explain why these factors are attractive for foreign investors. (3-6 sentences.) -Inflation, they want the inflation to be low so that the can sell their products for higher prices to the U.S.A. Another thing investors don’t want is an unstable country, whether that’s political or economic troubles. The last thing investors want is a high interest rate, if the interest rate in China is 15% and in the U.S. it’s 9%, then that company will probably want to invest with a company in China because they will receive more money in return for their loan.

Change Essay

Change Essay All change has consequences. In Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address 1863, John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Speech 1963 and â€Å"Forgotten Jelly† by Megan Jacobson a story from the perspective of an overweight girl who is blinded by her attitude from her friend’s battle with anorexia, both the positive and negative consequences of change are explored. The effects of change are demonstrated in many different ways, however, they all attempt to convey a central aspect of change; that all change has ramifications.As highlighted in Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, he conveys to the audience that they must put aside their differences and instead draw on the heritage that they share. His phrase â€Å"our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation† unites the audience as they ponder their similarities with the South. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address also reflects on the history shared by all Americans as he attempts to unite th em behind the goal of world peace in the context of the Cold War â€Å"We are the heirs of the first revolution†¦ Let the word go forth that the torch has passed to a new generation of Americans†.This utilization of emotive language aims to unify of all America by provoking their natural patriotism. The greatest barrier to change can be our sense of self. Jacobson’s â€Å"Forgotten Jelly† explores this through the eyes of an overweight girl who fails to recognise the trauma her friend is going through. Jacobson employs hyperbole to convey to the reader how self-obsessed the narrator is. â€Å"Body quaking more than Tokyo† suggests that she wants to draw focus to herself. It also supports how badly damaged her self body image is.This is also explained by Lincoln when he invokes the â€Å"great civil war† America is engaged in, which he is not sure the nation can endure. Lincoln varies his sentences to emphasise the importance of the crossroads the nation is at and how they must look beyond themselves to a bigger picture. This notion is illuminated in his words â€Å"but in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. † A united will can effect great change. In Kennedy’s Inaugural Address he knew he must inspire his people to enable them to help bring peace throughout the world.The United States was again at a crossroads with the Cold War at its height, Kennedy had become president by the narrowest of margins in history. His speech represents a turning point as nearly 75% of Americans expressed approval of Kennedy following his address. Kennedy immediately invoked both God and the shared heritage of the American citizens, to immediately unite his audience behind his call to unity as well as infusing his speech with a sense of higher purpose. I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed. † Similarly, Lincoln is the leader of a country at a critical point, the civil war ha s dragged on for several years. He invokes the Declaration of Independence the most sacred text in America to emphasise the fact that they must unite, before they destroy themselves. His reliance on inclusive language, specifically the word â€Å"we† which threads throughout the speech, binds the audience to a shared goal, it is as if the speaker in in effect all Americans.Lincoln also employs biblical referencing â€Å"fourscore and seven years ago†, the elegant ring of the biblical phrasing draws his audience to him as if he represents a form of higher power. Change can have both positive and negative consequences. This idea is conveyed in all three texts. Lincoln explains that the positive aspects will be that all men will be equal after the completion of the war. However, he also expresses regret that it has come to the point where people must give their lives so that everyone can be treated justly.This idea is underscored in the quote â€Å"All men are created eq ual†¦ those here gave their lives so that that nation may live. † Kennedy too notes that change has brought about many great endeavours as well as the â€Å"power to abolish all forms of human poverty. † He does express concern over that fact that mankind â€Å"has the power to abolish all forms of human life. † And Jacobson reflects on how the persona is now able to realise that she is not the centre of the universe, she is now able to help her friend in her darkest hour and become a better person for it. No-one noticed me†¦ I didn’t notice me. † This places in the spotlight the mental change she undertakes by employing repetition to highlight the fact. Change does not always come easily and can take time to accomplish. The complexity of change is emphasised by both Kennedy and Lincoln. Kennedy, whilst uniting his people behind him in a pledge for world peace explains that this change may not even happen in our lifetime. â€Å"This will n ot be finished in the first 100 days†¦ The first 1000 days†¦ Nor perhaps in our lifetime on the planet.But let us begin. † This draws his people in to him with the utilization of prepetition to illustrate the fact they can be world leaders. Lincoln conveys this message through the phrase â€Å"dedicated to the great task remaining before us† which employs high modality to illuminate that while they are dedicating this war cemetery to the dead. They must remember that their duty is to the living and fostering a better world for the future generations. Accordingly, change has consequences, both positive and negative.Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address that when resisted it can undermine national unity and indeed perpetuate war. Change can also be embraced positively not only by a certain group of people, but the whole world as represented in Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. Change can come without choice and lead to new insights, as revealed in Jacobsonâ€⠄¢s â€Å"Forgotten Jelly. † Change transforms, be it mental or physical, individual or universal it allows people to grow. Word count 1,131 By Jim Nash

Stability of Beta over Market Phases

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 50 (2010)  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2010 http://www. eurojournals. com/finance. htm Stability of Beta over Market Phases: An Empirical Study on Indian Stock Market Koustubh Kanti Ray Assistant Professor, Financial Management at Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, India. E-mail: [email  protected] ac. in Abstract The significant role played by beta in diverse aspects of financial decision making has forced people from small investors to investment bankers to rethink on beta in the era of globalization.In the present changing market condition, it is imperative to understand the stability of beta which augments an efficient investment decisions with additional information on beta. This study examined the stability of beta for India market for a ten year period from 1999 to 2009. The monthly return data of 30 selected stocks are considered for examining the stability of beta in diffe rent market phases. This stability of beta is tested using three econometric models i. e. using time as a variable, using dummy variables and the Chow test. The results obtained from the three models are mixed and inconclusive.However there are 9 stocks where all the three models reported similar signal of beta instability over the market phases. Keywords: Stability of Beta, Phase wise beta, Indian Market Beta, Dummy Variable, Chow Test 1. Introduction The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) developed by Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) has been the dominating capital market equilibrium model since its initiation. It continues to be extensively used in practical portfolio management and in academic research. Its essential implication is that the contribution of an asset to the variance of the market portfolio – he asset’s systematic risk, or beta risk – is the proper measure of the asset’s risk and the only systematic determinant of the asse t’s return. Risk is the assessable uncertainty (Knight, 1921) in predicting the future events that are affected by external and internal factors. Sharpe (1963) had classified risks as systematic risk and unsystematic risk. The elements of systematic risk are external to the firm. The external factors are changes in economic environment, interest rate changes, inflation, etc. On the other hand, internal factors are the sources of unsystematic risk.Unsystematic risks are categorized as business risk or financial risk specific to the firm. The systematic risk related with the general market movement cannot be totally eradicated through diversification. The unsystematic risk, which is confine to a firm, can be eliminated or reduced to a considerable extent by choosing an appropriate portfolio of securities. Some of the sources of unsystematic risk are consumer preferences, worker strikes and management competitiveness. These factors are independent of the factors effecting stock market.Hence, systematic risk will influence all the securities in the market, whereas unsystematic risk is security specific. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) 175 Theoretically defined, beta is the systematic relationship between the return on the portfolio and the return on the market (Rosenberg and Marathe, 1979). It refers to the slope in a linear relationship fitted to data on the rate of return on an investment and the rate of return of the market (or market index). Beta is a technique of telling how volatile a stock is compared with the rest of the market.When the return on the portfolio is more than the return on the market, beta is greater than one and those portfolios are referred to as aggressive portfolios. That means, in a booming market condition, aggressive portfolio will achieve much better than the market performance. While in a bearish market environment the fall of aggressive portfolios will also be much prominent. O n the other hand, when the return on portfolio is less than the market return, beta measure is less than one and those portfolios are treated as defensive.In case of defensive portfolios, when the market is rising, the performances associated with it will be less than the market portfolio. However, when the market moves down, the fall in the defensive portfolios would also be less than the market portfolio. In those situations where, the return of the portfolio accurately matches the return of the market, beta is equal to one that rarely happens in real life situations. Beta estimation is central to many financial decisions such as those relating to stock selection, capital budgeting, and performance evaluation. It is significant for both practitioners and academics.Practitioners use beta in financial decision making to estimate cost of capital. Beta is also a key variable in the academic research; for example it is used for testing asset pricing models and market efficiency. Given the importance of this variable a pertinent question for both practitioners and academics is how to obtain an efficient estimation. This study is aimed at testing the beta stability for India. Further the stability of beta is of great concern as it is a vital tool for almost all investment decisions and plays a significant role in the modern portfolio theory.The estimation of beta for individual securities using a simple market model has been widely evaluated as well as criticized in the finance literature. One important aspect of this simple market model is the assumption of symmetry that propounds the estimated beta is valid for all the market conditions. Many studies questioned this assumption and examined the relationship between beta and market return in different market conditions, but the results are mixed and inconclusive. In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate the stability of beta in the Indian stock market during the last 10 years i. . from August 1999 to August , 2009. With this objective, the paper is divided into five sections including the present section. Section 2 reviews the existing literature and discusses the findings of major empirical researches conducted in India and other countries. Section 3 describes the data sources and methodology. Section 4 outlines the results of tests for investigating the stability of beta and its findings. Section 5 is dedicated to summary, conclusion and scope for further research in the area. 2. Literature reviewSeveral studies are carried out to study the nature and the behavior of beta. Baesel (1974) studied the impact of the length of the estimation interval on beta stability. Using monthly data, betas were estimated using estimation intervals of one year, two years, four years, six years and nine years. He concluded that the stability of beta increases significantly as the length of the estimation interval increases. Levy (1971) and Levitz (1974) have shown that portfolio betas are very stable w hereas individual security betas are highly unstable.Likewise Blume (1971) used monthly prices data and successive seven-year periods and shown that the portfolio betas are very stable where as individual security betas are highly unstable in nature. He shows that, the stability of individual beta increases with increase in the time of estimation period. Similar results were also obtained by Altman et al (1974). In both the cases, initial and succeeding estimation periods are of the same length. Allen et al. (1994) have considered the subject of comparative stability of beta coefficients for individual securities and portfolios.The usual perception is that the portfolio betas are more stable than those for individual securities. They argue that if the portfolio betas are more stable than those for individual securities, the 176 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) larger confidence can be placed in portfolio beta estimates over longer peri ods of time. But, their study concludes that larger confidence in portfolio betas is not justified. Alexander and Chervany (1980) show empirically that extreme betas are less stable compared to interior beta.They proved it by using mean absolute deviation as a measure of stability. According to them, best estimation interval is generally four to six years. They also showed that irrespective of the manner portfolios are formed, magnitudes of inter-temporal changes in beta decreases as the number of securities in the portfolios rise contradicting the work of Porter and Ezzell (1975). Chawla (2001) investigated the stability of beta using monthly data on returns for the period April 1996 to March 2000. The tability of beta was tested using two alternative econometric methods, including time variable in the regression and dummy variables for the slope coefficient. Both the methods reject the stability of beta in majority of cases. Many studies focused on the time varying beta using cond itional CAPM (Jagannathan and Wang (1996) Lewellen and Nagel (2003)). These studies concluded that the fluctuations and events that influence the market might change the leverage of the firm and the variance of the stock return which ultimately will change the beta.Haddad (2007) examine the degree of return volatility persistence and time-varying nature of systematic risk of two Egyptian stock portfolios. He used the Schwert and Sequin (1990) market model to study the relationship between market capitalization and time varying beta for a sample of investable Egyptian portfolios during the period January, 2001 to June, 2004. According to Haddad, the small stocks portfolio exhibits difference in volatility persistence and time variability. The study also suggests that the volatility persistence of each portfolio and its systematic risk are significantly positively related.Because of that, the systematic risks of different portfolios tend to move in a different direction during the per iods of increasing market volatility. The stability of beta is also examined with reference to security market conditions. For example, Fabozzi and Francis (1977) in their seminal paper considered the differential effect of bull and bear market conditions for 700 individual securities listed in NYSE. Using a Dual Beta Market Model (DBM), they established that estimated betas of most of the securities are stable in both the market conditions.They experienced it with three different set of bull and bear market definitions and concluded with the same results for all these definitions. Fama and French (1992, 1996), Jegadeesh (1992) and others revealed that betas are not statistically related to returns. McNulty et al (2002) highlight the problems with historical beta when computing the cost of capital, and suggest as an alternative- the forward-looking market-derived capital pricing model (MCPM), which uses option data to evaluate equity risk. In the similar line, French et al. (1983) m erge forward-looking volatility with istorical correlation to improve the measurement of betas. Siegel (1995) notes the improvement of a beta based on forward-looking option data, and proceeds to propose the creation of a new derivative, called an exchange option, which would allow for the calculation of what he refers to as â€Å"implicit† betas. Unfortunately the exchange options discussed by Siegel (1995) are not yet traded, and therefore his method cannot be applied in practice to compute forward-looking betas. A few studies are carried out to explore the reason for instability of beta.For example, Scott & Brown (1980) show that when returns of the market are subjected to measurement errors, the concurrent autocorrelated residuals and inter-temporal correlation between market returns and residual results in biased and unstable estimates of betas. This is so even when true values of betas are stable over time. They also derived an expression for the instability in the esti mated beta between two periods. Chen (1981) investigates the connection between variability of beta coefficient and portfolio residual risk. If beta coefficient changes over time, OLS method is not suitable to estimate portfolio residual risk.It will lead to inaccurate conclusion that larger portfolio residual risk is associated with higher variability in beta. A Bayesian approach is proposed to estimate the time varying beta so as to provide a precise estimate of portfolio residual risk. Bildersee and Roberts (1981) show that during the periods interest rates fluctuate, betas would fluctuate systematically. The change would be in tune with their value relative to the market and the pattern of changes in interest rate. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) 177Few research studies are available in the Indian context to examine the factors influencing systematic risk. For example, Vipul (1999) examines the effect of company size, industry gro up and liquidity of the scrip on beta. He considered equity shares of 114 companies listed at Bombay Stock Exchange from July 1986 to June 1993 for his study. He found that size of the company affects the value of betas and the beta of medium sized companies is the lowest which increases with increase or decrease in the size of the company. The study also concluded that industry group and liquidity of the scrip do not affect beta.In another study, Gupta & Sehgal (1999) examine the relationship between systematic risk and accounting variables for the period April 1984 to March 1993. There is a confirmation of relationship in the expected direction between systematic risk and variables such as debt-equity ratio, current ratio and net sales. The association between systematic risk and variables like profitability, payout ratio, earning growth and earnings volatility measures is not in accordance with expected sign. The relationship was investigated using correlation analysis in the stu dy. 3. Data Type and Research MethodologyThe data related to the study is taken for 30 stocks from BSE-100 index. The top 30 stocks are chosen on the basis of their market capitalization in BSE-100 index. These 30 stocks are selected from BSE100 stocks in such a way that the continuous price data is available for the study period. The adjusted closing prices of these 30 stocks were collected for the last 10 years period i. e. from August 1999 to August 2009. The stock and market (BSE-100) data has been collected from prowess (CMIE) for the above period. BSE-100 index is a broad-based index and follows globally accepted free-float methodology.Scrip selection in the index is generally taken into account a balanced sectoral representation of the listed companies in the universe of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). As per the stock market guideline, the stocks inducted in the index are on the basis of their final ranking. Where the final rank is arrived at by assigning 75 percent weightage t o the rank on the basis of three-month average full market capitalization and 25 percent weightage to the liquidity rank based on three-month average daily turnover & three-month average impact cost.The average closing price for each month of 30 socks is computed for the period August 1999 to August 2009. Therefore we have 120 average monthly prices for each of the 30 stocks included in the research. The following method has been used to compute the monthly return on each of the stock. P i,t – P i,t-1 ri,t = –––––––––– P i, t-1 Where: P i,t = Average price of stock â€Å"i† in the month t Pi,t-1 = Average price of stock â€Å"i† in the month t-1 r i,t= Return of ith stock in the month t. The monthly market return is computed in the following way: Bt – Bt-1 mt = –––––––––– B t-1Where: Bt = BSE-100 Index at time period t Bt-1 = BSE-100 Index at time period t-1 mt = Market return at time period t. After the monthly stock and market returns are calculated as per the above formula, we identified the different market phases to compute beta separately. The market phases are identified, by creating a cumulative wealth index from the market returns. The cumulative wealth index data is presented in annexure-1. As per the cumulative wealth index, we identified five different market 178 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) hases in BSE-100 index. We recognized that there are three bullish phases (Jan-1999 to Feb-2000, Oct-2001 to Dec-2007 and Dec-2008 to August 2009) and two bearish phases (Mar-2000 to Sept2001, Jan-2008 to Nov-2008). The summary of different market phases is depicted in Table -1& figure-1 below. Table-1: Different Market Phases Market Phases Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV Phase V Market Phase Timing Start End Jan-1999 Feb-2000 Mar-2000 Sep-2 001 Oct-2001 Dec-07 Jan-2008 Nov-08 Dec-2008 Aug-09 Market Type Bullish Bearish Bullish Bearish Bullish Figure-1: Different Market PhasesAfter these five market phases are identified, the beta value has been computed for each stock for each market phases following the below mentioned regression equation. ri,t = ? + ? mt + e (1) ri,t = Return on scrip i at time period t mt = Market rate of return at time period t e = Random error ? & = Parameters to be estimated The above regression equation is applied to calculate beta coefficient of each stocks for each market phases separately and taking the entire ten years period. As the objective of the paper is to test the stability of beta in different market phases, the hypothesis has been set accordingly.The null hypothesis (H0) being the beta is stable over the market phases, whereas the alternative hypothesis (H1) is that the beta values are not stable and varies according to phases in the market. The hypothesis has been tested with the help of three econometric models- using time as a variable, using dummy variables to measure the change of slope over the period and through Chow test. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) 179 3. 1. Testing the Stability of Beta using time as a variableIn case of measuring stability of beta using time as a variable, in the above regression model (1) another variable i. e. † t mt† is used as a separate explanatory variable. Where the time variable t takes a value of t=1 for the first market phase, t=2 for the second market phase and so on for all other market phases identified. In this method the objective is to see whether the beta values are stable over time or not. After including the tmt variable, the above regression model (1) can be written as: ri,t = ? + ? 1mt + ? 2( t*mt) + e (2) The above regression equation can be re-framed as below: ri,t = ? + (? + ? 2*t )*mt + e (2) To test the stability of beta, we basically have to see whether the expression ? 2 is significant or not. If it is significant, we need to reject the null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis. It is implied that the sensitivity of stock return to market return i. e. (? 1 + ? 2*t)* mt changes with time, and hence, beta is not stable. If ? 2 is not significant, (? 1 + ? 2*t)* mt will get reduced to ? 1*mt , implying that ? 1, or the beta of stock, does not vary with time and is thus stable over time. The statistical significance of ? 2 is tested using the respective p-values. . 2. Testing the Stability of Beta using dummy variable In case of the second method of testing the beta stability, dummy variables are used in above mentioned regression equation (1) for the slope coefficients. As five market phases discovered, there are 4 dummy variables used in the new equation (Levine et al. 2006). The new regression equation is reframed as follows: ri,t = ? 0 + ? 1* mt + ? 2*D1* mt + ? 3*D2* mt + ? 4*D3* mt + ? 5*D4*mt + e (3) Where: D1 = 1 for phase 1 (Jan 1999 to Feb 2000) data = 0 otherwise. D2 = 1 for phase II (May 2000 to Sept 2001) data = 0 otherwise D3 1 for phase III (Oct 2001 to Dec 2007) data = 0 otherwise D4 = 1 for phase IV (Jan 2008 to Nov 2008) data = 0 otherwise = return on stock I in period t. r i,t mt = return on market in period t. e = error term and ? 0, ? 1, ? 2, ? 3, ? 4 & ? 5 = coefficients to be estimated. As there are 5 market phases, we use 4 dummy variables in the above equation (3). The use of 5 dummy variable would lead to a dummy variable trap. We treat the 5th phase viz. Dec-08 to Aug-09 as the base period. The significance of ? 2, ? 3, ? 4 and ? 5 will tell us whether the beta is stable over the time periods or not.For the beta to be truly stable over the entire period, all coefficients like, ? 2, ? 3, ? 4 and ? 5 should be statistically insignificant and where we need to accept the null hypothesis. The logic is that if ? 2, ? 3, ? 4 and ? 5 are insignificant, the equation reduces to the following, thus implying that beta is stable over time. ri,t = ? 0 + ? 1*mt + e (4) th 3. 3. Testing for Structural or Parameter Stability of Regression Model: The Chow Test In the third method, for structural or parameter stability of regression models, the Chow test has been conducted (Gujarati, 2004).When we use a regression model involving time series data, it may happen 180 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) that there is a structural change in the relationship between the regress and the regressors. By structural change, we mean that the values of the parameters of the model do not remain the same through the entire time period. We divide our sample data into five time periods according to the different market phases identified earlier.We have six possible regressions for each stock (five regressions for each market phases and one for the whole ten year period). The regression equations are mentioned below. ri,t = ? 1 + ? 2 mt + ut (5) (6) r i, t = ? 1 + ? 2mt + ut Equation (5) is for each market phases and equation (6) is for the whole period. There are 128 observations (n=128) for the whole period and n1=14, n2=19, n3=75, n4=11 and n5=9 are the number of observations for phase-I to phase-V respectively. The u’s in the above regression equations represent the error terms.Regression (6) assumes that there is no difference over the five time periods and therefore estimates the relationship between stock prices and market for the entire time period consisting of 128 observations. In other words, this regression assumes that the intercept as well as the slope coefficient remains the same over the entire period; that is, there is no structural change. Now the possible differences, that is, structural changes, may be caused by differences in the intercept or the slope coefficient or both. This is examined with a formal test called Chow test (Chow, 1960). The mechanics of the Chow test are as follows: First the regression (6) is estimated, which is appropriate if there is no parameter instability, and obtained the restricted residual sum of squares (RSSR) with df = [(n1+n2+n3+n4+n5) ? k], where k is the number of parameters estimated, 2 in the present case. This is called restricted residual sum of squares because it is obtained by imposing the restrictions that the sub-period regressions are not different. Secondly estimated the phase wise other regression equations and obtain its residual sum of squares, RSS1 to RSS8 with degrees of freedom, df = (no of observations in each phase ? ). Since the five sets of samples are deemed independent, in the third step we can add RSS1 to RSS8 to obtain what may be called the unrestricted residual sum of squares (RSSUR) with df = [(n1+n2+n3+n4+n5)? 2k]. Now the idea behind the Chow test is that if in fact there is no structural change (i. e. , all phases regressions are essentially the same), then the RSSR and RSSUR should not be statistical ly different. Therefore in the fourth step the following ratio is formed to get the F-value. F = [(RSSR ? RSSUR)/k] / [(RSSUR)/ ((n1 + n2+n3+n4+n5) ? 2k)] ~ F [k, ((n1+n2+n3+n4+n5) ? 2k)] (7)We cannot reject the null hypothesis of parameter stability (i. e. , no structural change) if the computed F value is not statistically significant (F value does not exceed the critical F value obtained from the F table at the chosen level of significance or the p value). Contrarily, if the computed F value is statistically significant (F value exceeds the critical F value), we reject the null hypothesis of parameter stability and conclude that the phase wise regressions are different. 4. Test Results and Findings Initially the beta coefficient is calculated using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique as defined in equation (1).The estimation was carried out by using monthly return data for the 5 market phases for each of the 30 stocks. To compare the phase wise beta estimation with the enti re 10 year period, the same estimation also carried out taking the whole 10 years for each stock separately. Stock wise beta values over 5 market phases and the entire period is reported in appendix-2. From annexure-2, it is revealed that there are 14 stocks beta value is greater than 1 in phase I. This figure (beta value greater than 1) has reduced to 6, 11, 12 and 10 for phase-2 to phase-5 respectively.It is also illustrated that, there are 8 stocks whose beta value is greater than 1 in respect to overall between Jan-99 to Aug-09 and highest being for Wipro of 1. 47. The stocks having beta value International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) 181 more than 1 are considered to be volatile securities. It is noticed that, as we increase the period of estimation to full ten years period, there are less number of stocks proved to be more volatile. Out of the total 30 stocks considered in the study, only one company i. e.L&T has beta more than 1 in all p hases including the overall period. But none of the company’s overall beta value is more than the phase wise betas. There are seven companies (RIL, NALCO, ITC, GAIL, Hindustan Lever, Hero Honda and Cipla) whose beta values are less than 1 all through the phases including overall period. These stocks are considered to be less volatile than the market. There are 3 companies (Cipla, ITC and Hindustan Lever) recent beta value (Dec 2008 to August 2009) is negative, where Cipla’s phase I beta value is also negative along with other two stocks like SAIL and NALCO.It is observed from annexure-2 that there are only two companies’ from the software sector (Infosys and Wipro) whose beta values are consistently declining over time. However there are 7 stocks viz. Cipla, Sunpharma, Wipro, Grasim, Hindustan Lever, Infosys and ITC whose beta values are showing a decreasing trend from phase 3 onwards, while Tata steel is the only stock whose beta values are showing an increasin g trend during the same period. It is observed from the annexure-2 that, on an overall basis 29 out of 30 stocks have their beta values statistically significant at 5% level.This number has varied from 8 to 30 over the various phases, indicating that the beta values of the stocks have fluctuated significantly. This implies that the volatility of the stocks depend on the market phases i. e. bearish or bullish. Thus the result rejects the null hypothesis that the beta is stable over various market phases. The null hypothesis is rejected in 29 out of 30 cases in case of overall period, while 30 out of 30 cases in respect to phase-3. Since the period of estimation of beta is more in case of overall period and in phase-3, the obtained results are similar in both the cases.But the remaining phase wise results do not follow any pattern. In respect of period of estimating the value of beat the results are comparable to the finding of Baesel (1974) and Altman et al (1974). It is mentioned ea rlier that to examine the stability of beta over different market phases, three separate models have been used in paper. The results obtained from these models are interpreted in the following paragraphs. The estimated results for regression model-2 that includes t*mt as a separate variable are depicted in annexure-3.It is observed that the value of R2, a measure of goodness of fit varies from 0. 11 to 0. 61. It is only in 5 out of 30 regression results, the value is greater than 0. 50. The coefficient of mt (? 1) is found to be highly statistically significant at 5% level in 19 out of 30 cases. It is in 11 regressions, the coefficient is statistically insignificant. As discussed earlier, the significance of the coefficient of variable t*mt implies the rejection of the null hypothesis of stable beta over time. It is observed that the coefficient (? ) is significant in 14 cases out of 30. The regression results indicate that in 50% cases the null hypothesis of stability of beta over the market phases is rejected. This means 50% stocks reported stability of beta over different phases. So model (2) cannot infer that beta is not stable over market phases. The estimated results for coefficients for regression model-3 that incorporates dummy variables are depicted in annexure-4. It is noticed from the results that the R2 value fluctuates from 0. 15 to 0. 62 and in case of 8 stocks this value is greater than 0. 0. It is mentioned earlier that the null hypothesis of stability of beta will be rejected if any of the coefficients (? 2, ? 3, ? 4 & ? 5) corresponding to D1*mt, D2*mt, D3*mt or D4*mt were found to be statistically significant. It is observed from the results presented in appendix-4, that there are 17 out of 30 stocks represented statistically significant at 5% level at least one of the coefficient. There are only 2 cases where 3 coefficients are significant and none of the stocks reported significant for all the 4 coefficients.Further in 6 cases where 2 out of 4 coefficients are reported significant, where as in 9 cases depicted significant only for one coefficient. The outcome of this model in brief can be stated that, in case of 17 stocks out of 30 stocks, the stability of beta hypothesis is rejected meaning, in rest 13 cases there is a stability of beta over the market phases. 182 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) The estimated results of Chow test are depicted in annexure-5. The results show that, 12 out of 30 cases the F-value is statistically significant and rest 18 stocks are reported insignificant at 5% level.Based on the F- statistics and its corresponding p-values, the null hypothesis of beta stability over the market phases is rejected in 12 cases and accepted in 18 cases. The F-values are also supported by log likelihood ratio and it p-values, which also reported statistical significance in 12 cases. The outcome of Chow test confirms that the beta values are not stable or there is a structural change in 12 out of 30 stocks in different market phases. But the rest 18 stocks reported stability or no structural change in beta values over the market phases.From the above deliberations, it is observed that all the three models described above exhibit a mixed and inconclusive result. There are 14, 17 and 12 stocks are statistically significant as per model2, model-3 and model-7 respectively. This means as per model-2 the beta values of 14 stocks out of 30 stocks are instable over the period. But this number is 17 and 12 in case of model3 and 7 respectively. However, on the basis of results obtained from different models, it is not possible to conclude that the beta values of the stocks are stable or instable over the market phases.But if we closely glance at the results obtained from three models, it is very apparent that in case of 9 stocks where all the three models represented similar results and rejected the null hypothesis. These stocks include Sun pharmac eutical, Wipro, Tata motors, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC, Infosys and Zee Entertainment. This indicates that beta values are not stable over the market phases in these 9 stocks. Similarly there are 6 stocks where two models recommended instability of beta and 4 stocks where only one model reported a change in beta values over the period.There are 11 cases where none of the models rejected the null hypothesis, which proved that the beta values are stable over the time in these stocks. 5. Conclusion The objective of the present study is to examine the stability of beta in different Indian market phases. For the purpose of the study monthly return data of 30 stocks for the period from 1999 to 2009 is considered. Considering the bullish and bearish condition in the Indian market, we divided the whole 10 years into 5 different market phases. Initially the beta has been estimated for different market phases and also taking the whole 10 years period.The results show that the beta values are not showing any particular pattern but in the overall phase almost all the stocks are statistically significant. Further the beta stability is examined using three different models. In the first method the beta coefficient is calculated considering the market phases as time variable. The results show that in 50% of cases the null hypothesis is rejected as the beta is stable over different market phases. In the similar line the results obtained in respect to model two states that in 17 out of 30 cases the null hypothesis is rejected.This confirms that in 17 cases the stability of beta is not there over the market phases but in rest 13 cases it stable over the market phases. In the third method of investigating beta stability, the Chow test has been conducted. The F-statistics under Chow test reveals that, beta is instable in 12 out of 30 stocks considered in the study in different market phases. We can thus finally conclude that the results obtained from differen t models are mixed and inconclusive in nature, where it is less ground to conclude that the beta values are stable or instable over the market phases.But there are 9 stocks which gives a strong indication that their beta values are not stable over the market phases. In these 9 cases, all the three models reported similar signal of beta instability over the market phases. The instability of beta has its implications in taking sound corporate financial decisions. Financial decisions should not be based on the overall beta of the company. Rather, the company’s periodical beta should be relied upon for taking certain managerial decisions.Considering the inconclusive results obtained from present study, it is suggested that the future research on beta in Indian market may be investigated from (a) industry wise stability of beta in different market phases (b) stability of beta from portfolio point of view (c) optimal time limit for stability of beta (d) forward looking beta and its stability (e) impact of market and company specific factors and stability of beta and (f) market efficiency study using phase wise beta under the event study methodology. 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[26] [27] [28] [29] 30] [31] [32] [33] [34] 185 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) Annexure-1: Month December 1998 January 1999 February 1999 March 1999 April 1999 May 1999 June 1999 July 1999 August 1999 September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000 February 2000 March 2000 April 2000 May 2000 June 2000 July 2000 August 2000 September 2000 October 2000 November 2000 December 2000 January 2001 February 2001 March 2001 April 2001 May 2001 June 2001 July 2001 August 2001 September 2001 October 2001 November 2001 Dece mber 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 April 2002May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 Identification of Market Phases Closing Price Return (R) 1+R Cumulative Wealth Index Market Phases 1359. 03 1461. 52 1506. 95 1651. 37 1449. 64 1714. 02 1790. 51 1988. 06 2192. 94 2213. 33 2071. 50 2253. 29 2624. 49 2875. 37 3293. 29 2902. 20 2396. 22 2156. 99 2397. 06 2153. 26 2306. 07 2075. 67 1916. 99 2061. 18 2032. 20 2209. 31 2139. 72 1691. 71 1682. 1 1763. 35 1630. 02 1564. 46 1534. 73 1312. 50 1389. 17 1557. 01 1557. 22 1592. 27 1707. 72 1716. 28 1671. 63 1596. 71 1650. 34 1506. 23 1580. 55 1473. 88 1458. 78 1594. 03 1664. 67 1600. 87 1628. 72 1500. 72 1470. 31 1641. 44 1819. 36 1893. 45 2229. 25 2314. 62 2485. 43 2594. 34 3074. 87 2946. 14 2923. 99 0. 0 8 0. 03 0. 10 -0. 12 0. 18 0. 04 0. 11 0. 10 0. 01 -0. 06 0. 09 0. 16 0. 10 0. 15 -0. 12 -0. 17 -0. 10 0. 11 -0. 10 0. 07 -0. 10 -0. 08 0. 08 -0. 01 0. 09 -0. 03 -0. 21 -0. 01 0. 05 -0. 08 -0. 04 -0. 02 -0. 14 0. 06 0. 12 0. 00 0. 02 0. 07 0. 01 -0. 03 -0. 04 0. 03 -0. 09 0. 05 -0. 07 -0. 01 0. 09 0. 04 -0. 04 0. 2 -0. 08 -0. 02 0. 12 0. 11 0. 04 0. 18 0. 04 0. 07 0. 04 0. 19 -0. 04 -0. 01 1. 08 1. 03 1. 10 0. 88 1. 18 1. 04 1. 11 1. 10 1. 01 0. 94 1. 09 1. 16 1. 10 1. 15 0. 88 0. 83 0. 90 1. 11 0. 90 1. 07 0. 90 0. 92 1. 08 0. 99 1. 09 0. 97 0. 79 0. 99 1. 05 0. 92 0. 96 0. 98 0. 86 1. 06 1. 12 1. 00 1. 02 1. 07 1. 01 0. 97 0. 96 1. 03 0. 91 1. 05 0. 93 0. 99 1. 09 1. 04 0. 96 1. 02 0. 92 0. 98 1. 12 1. 11 1. 04 1. 18 1. 04 1. 07 1. 04 1. 19 0. 96 0. 99 1. 08 1. 11 1. 22 1. 07 1. 26 1. 32 1. 46 1. 61 1. 63 1. 52 1. 66 1. 93 2. 12 2. 42 0. 88 0. 73 0. 65 0. 73 0. 65 0. 70 0. 63 0. 58 0. 63 0. 62 0. 67 0. 65 0. 51 0. 51 0. 54 0. 9 0. 48 0. 47 0. 40 1. 06 1. 19 1. 19 1. 21 1. 30 1. 31 1. 27 1. 22 1. 26 1. 15 1. 20 1. 12 1. 11 1. 21 1. 27 1. 22 1. 24 1. 14 1. 12 1. 25 1. 39 1. 44 1. 70 1. 76 1. 89 1. 98 2. 34 2. 24 2. 23 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 186 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 ecember 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 ecember 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 Mar ch 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) 2966. 31 3025. 14 2525. 35 2561. 16 2755. 22 2789. 07 2997. 97 027. 96 3339. 75 3580. 34 3521. 71 3611. 90 3481. 86 3313. 45 3601. 73 3800. 24 4072. 15 4184. 83 4566. 63 4159. 59 4649. 87 4953. 28 5224. 97 5422. 67 5904. 17 6251. 39 5385. 21 5382. 11 5422. 39 5933. 77 6328. 33 6603. 60 6931. 05 6982. 56 7145. 91 6527. 12 6587. 21 7032. 93 7468. 70 7605. 37 8004. 05 7857. 61 8967. 41 10391. 19 10384. 40 11154. 28 9440. 94 9404. 98 8232. 82 9199. 46 8683. 27 7029. 74 7488. 48 7621. 40 6691. 57 4953. 98 4600. 45 4988. 04 4790. 32 4516. 38 4942. 51 5803. 97 7620. 13 7571. 49 8176. 54 8225. 50 0. 01 0. 02 -0. 17 0. 01 0. 08 0. 01 0. 07 0. 01 0. 10 0. 07 -0. 02 0. 03 -0. 04 -0. 05 0. 9 0. 06 0. 07 0. 03 0. 09 -0. 09 0. 12 0. 07 0. 05 0. 04 0. 09 0. 06 -0. 14 0. 00 0. 01 0. 09 0. 07 0. 04 0. 05 0. 01 0. 02 -0. 09 0. 01 0. 07 0. 06 0. 02 0. 05 -0. 02 0 . 14 0. 16 0. 00 0. 07 -0. 15 0. 00 -0. 12 0. 12 -0. 06 -0. 19 0. 07 0. 02 -0. 12 -0. 26 -0. 07 0. 08 -0. 04 -0. 06 0. 09 0. 17 0. 31 -0. 01 0. 08 0. 01 1. 01 1. 02 0. 83 1. 01 1. 08 1. 01 1. 07 1. 01 1. 10 1. 07 0. 98 1. 03 0. 96 0. 95 1. 09 1. 06 1. 07 1. 03 1. 09 0. 91 1. 12 1. 07 1. 05 1. 04 1. 09 1. 06 0. 86 1. 00 1. 01 1. 09 1. 07 1. 04 1. 05 1. 01 1. 02 0. 91 1. 01 1. 07 1. 06 1. 02 1. 05 0. 98 1. 14 1. 16 1. 00 1. 07 0. 85 1. 00 0. 88 1. 12 . 94 0. 81 1. 07 1. 02 0. 88 0. 74 0. 93 1. 08 0. 96 0. 94 1. 09 1. 17 1. 31 0. 99 1. 08 1. 01 2. 26 2. 30 1. 92 1. 95 2. 10 2. 13 2. 28 2. 31 2. 54 2. 73 2. 68 2. 75 2. 65 2. 52 2. 74 2. 90 3. 10 3. 19 3. 48 3. 17 3. 54 3. 77 3. 98 4. 13 4. 50 4. 76 4. 10 4. 10 4. 13 4. 52 4. 82 5. 03 5. 28 5. 32 5. 44 4. 97 5. 02 5. 36 5. 69 5. 79 6. 10 5. 99 6. 83 7. 92 7. 91 8. 50 0. 85 0. 84 0. 74 0. 82 0. 78 0. 63 0. 67 0. 68 0. 60 0. 44 0. 41 1. 08 1. 04 0. 98 1. 07 1. 26 1. 66 1. 65 1. 78 1. 79 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 50 (2010) Annexure-2: Beta values of individual securities over all the five phases Overall Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV ? p-val ? p-val ? p-val ? p-val ? p-val Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. 0. 86 0. 00* 0. 67 0. 21 1. 18 0. 00* 1. 10 0. 00* 0. 80 0. 02* Bharat Petroleum Corpn. Ltd. 0. 80 0. 00* 1. 02 0. 15 0. 66 0. 06 1. 13 0. 00* 1. 30 0. 06 Cipla Ltd. 0. 51 0. 00* -0. 04 0. 95 0. 75 0. 02* 0. 80 0. 00* 0. 51 0. 07 Sun Pharmaceutical Inds. Ltd. 0. 69 0. 00* 1. 13 0. 15 0. 80 0. 08 0. 57 0. 00* 0. 74 0. 00* Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. 0. 94 0. 00* 1. 19 0. 3 0. 63 0. 03* 0. 78 0. 00* 1. 07 0. 10 Wipro Ltd. 1. 47 0. 00* 2. 79 0. 02* 2. 63 0. 00* 0. 88 0. 00* 0. 87 0. 00* Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. 1. 24 0. 00* 1. 38 0. 02* 0. 26 0. 39 1. 20 0. 00* 1. 50 0. 00* Larsen & Toubro Ltd. 1. 30 0. 00* 1. 12 0. 08 1. 70 0. 00* 1. 21 0. 00 * 1. 07 0. 00* State Bank Of India 1. 01 0. 00* 1. 22 0. 08 0. 86 0. 00* 1. 03 0. 00* 1. 08 0. 01* Tata Motors Ltd. 1. 20 0. 00* 1. 07 0. 08 -0. 13 0. 65 1. 11 0. 00* 1. 20 0. 00* Oil & Natural Gas Corpn. Ltd. 0. 79 0. 00* 0. 43 0. 47 0. 59 0. 03* 1. 06 0. 00* 1. 03 0. 01* Steel Authority Of India Ltd. 1. 23 0. 00* -0. 31 0. 68 0. 99 0. 00* 1. 54 0. 0* 1. 12 0. 01* Tata Steel Ltd. 1. 22 0. 00* 0. 79 0. 17 0. 64 0. 05* 1. 25 0. 00* 1. 39 0. 00* Grasim Industries Ltd. 0. 94 0. 00* 1. 24 0. 13 0. 91 0. 01* 0. 95 0. 00* 0. 86 0. 00* H D F C Bank Ltd. 0. 79 0. 00* 1. 38 0. 03* 0. 36 0. 10 0. 68 0. 00* 0. 98 0. 00* Hero Honda Motors Ltd. 0. 47 0. 00* 0. 24 0. 64 0. 04 0. 85 0. 79 0. 00* 0. 93 0. 00* Hindalco Industries Ltd. 1. 00 0. 00* 0. 03 0. 95 0. 39 0. 06 1. 22 0. 00* 1. 44 0. 00* Hindustan Unilever Ltd. 0. 49 0. 00* 0. 78 0. 01* 0. 42 0. 06 0. 77 0. 00* 0. 67 0. 00* HDFC Ltd. 0. 74 0. 00* 0. 77 0. 01* 0. 50 0. 06 0. 85 0. 00* 1. 01 0. 00* Infosys Technologies Ltd. . 91 0. 00* 1. 33 0. 05* 1. 30 0. 00* 0. 73 0. 00* 0. 67 0. 06 G A I L (India) Ltd. 0. 49 0. 00* 0. 00 1. 00 0. 46 0. 11 0. 79 0. 00* 0. 34 0. 18 I C I C I Bank Ltd. 0. 84 0. 00* 1. 85 0. 05* 0. 06 0. 88 0. 50 0. 00* 0. 57 0. 14 I T C Ltd. 0. 37 0. 00* 0. 54 0. 13 0. 57 0. 01* 0. 42 0. 00* 0. 27 0. 24 National Aluminium Co. Ltd. 0. 49 0. 00* -0. 31 0. 75 0. 24 0. 37 0. 73 0. 00* 0. 21 0. 69 Indian Oil Corpn. Ltd. 0. 87 0. 10 0. 32 0. 56 0. 65 0. 00* 1. 24 0. 00* 0. 75 0. 01* Reliance Industries Ltd. 0. 51 0. 00* 0. 34 0. 47 0. 08 0. 81 0. 41 0. 00* 0. 74 0. 06 Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. 1. 11 0. 00* 0. 99 0. 14 1. 3 0. 09 0. 87 0. 00* 0. 01 0. 96 Tata Communications Ltd. 0. 78 0. 00* 1. 10 0. 05* 1. 18 0. 00* 0. 87 0. 00* 0. 85 0. 09 Unitech Ltd. 0. 79 0. 00* 0. 47 0. 14 0. 48 0. 02* 0. 87 0. 00* 0. 21 0. 47 Zee Entertainment Ent. Ltd. 1. 00 0. 00* 1. 39 0. 08 0. 72 0. 07 0. 78 0. 00* 1. 13 0. 03* * indicates significance of coefficient at 5% level of significant Name of the Company Annexure-3: 187 Phase V ? p-val 0. 74 0. 00* 0. 48 0. 03* -0. 13 0. 65 0. 16 0. 55 1. 96 0. 01* 0. 78 0. 10 2. 46 0. 00* 1. 77 0. 00* 1. 55 0. 00* 1. 33 0. 02* 0. 94 0. 01* 1. 66 0. 00* 2. 07 0. 00* 0. 41 0. 29 0. 96 0. 00* 0. 29 0. 21 1. 63 0. 01* -0. 1 0. 68 0. 95 0. 00* 0. 07 0. 83 0. 38 0. 03* 1. 35 0. 02* -0. 01 0. 95 0. 50 0. 19 0. 98 0. 02* 0. 57 0. 10 0. 85 0. 03* 0. 43 0. 15 1. 27 0. 11 0. 74 0. 07 Estimates of regression equation using Time as a Variable Name of the Company Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Bharat Petroleum Corpn. Ltd. Cipla Ltd. Sun Pharmaceutical Inds. Ltd. Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. Wipro Ltd. Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. Larsen & Toubro Ltd. State Bank Of India Tata Motors Ltd. Oil & Natural Gas Corpn. Ltd. Steel Authority Of India Ltd. Tata Steel Ltd. Grasim Industries Ltd. H D F C Bank Ltd. Hero Honda Motors Ltd. Hindalco Industries Ltd.Hindustan Unilever Ltd. HDFC Ltd. Constant 0. 02 0. 01 0. 02 0. 03 0. 01 0. 01 0. 01 0. 01 0. 01 0. 00 0. 01 0. 02 0. 01 0. 01 0. 0 2 0. 02 0. 00 0. 00 0. 02 mt (? 1) 0. 56 (0. 03) 0. 79 (0. 02) 0. 94 (0. 00) 1. 69 (0. 00) 0. 63 (0. 05) 3. 35 (0. 00) 0. 25 (0. 44) 1. 10 (0. 00) 0. 71 (0. 00) 0. 61 (0. 02) 0. 25 (0. 38) 0. 26 (0. 51) 0. 01 (0. 99) 0. 97 (0. 00) 0. 92 (0. 00) 0. 19 (0. 42) -0. 12 (0. 60) 0. 91 (0. 00) 0. 37 (0. 04) t*mt (? 2) 0. 10 (0. 22) 0. 00 (0. 96) -0. 14 (0. 10) -0. 33 (0. 00)* 0. 10 (0. 29) -0. 62 (0. 00)* 0. 33 (0. 00)* 0. 07 (0. 37) 0. 10 (0. 17) 0. 20 (0. 02)* 0. 18 (0. 03)* 0. 32 (0. 01)*

Psychological Journal Article Summary and Analysis Research Paper

Psychological Journal Article Summary and Analysis - Research Paper Example Another explicit purpose of the study was to compare mere exposure (exposure without a reward) to a no-treatment control condition. The role that this control condition played in the experiment was to provide a baseline for the analysis of child responses when external rewards were presented. The authors were also interested several factors that contribute to the discrepancy between the tendency for rewards to increase acceptance in field studies on one hand, but the tendency of rewards to decrease liking in laboratory studies. Implicit in the design of their study, the researchers attempted to study the type of reward used, the initial liking, and the intended outcome of the study and whether those factors play a role. To accomplish these tasks, the researchers used a cluster-randomized experimental design that arranged over 400 children into four conditions: an exposure plus tangible non-food reward, an exposure plus social reward, an exposure alone, and a no-treatment control grou p. Over 12 days, the children were presented daily with the exposure to a vegetable that children find objectionable in taste. Then, the children from the respective conditions were either given an additional reward or, for those in the control condition, left alone. The results measured from these tests of taste were collected at a one-month and a three-month point after the 12 exposures in order to examine the effects of the exposures on acquisition and maintenance of the taste. This research design was intended to either accept or reject the hypothesis that external rewards have a significant effect on changing children’s tastes for vegetables. The children in the study fell in between the range of 4 and 6 years old and were randomly assigned to their conditions. To test each of the children individually, the researchers used a vegetable that the child rated in the middle of five other vegetables so that there was the potential of learning to enjoy the taste of that middle vegetable. During the intervention period, children were given praise as a reward (in the social reward condition), a sticker (in the tangible non-food condition), or minimal social interaction (in the no exposure condition). Through all of this testing, the researchers discovered that liking for the vegetable increased in the three intervention conditions as compared to the control condition, in which children were not exposed to the vegetable. Within these results, there was no significant difference in liking between each of the exposure conditions (that is, social rewards did not increase liking more than non-food tangible rewards). In terms of timing after the initial study, each of the interventions maintained their difference at a significant level for one month, during the acquisition phase. However, children who were rewarded with external rewards maintained their liking for three months or more during the maintenance phase. Likewise, during this maintenance phase, there w as no significant difference between the social reward and the non-food tangible reward condition in terms of who continued to like the vegetables more. Meanwhile, the effect of the no reward exposure because insignificant by that three month point. In other words, external rewards do not produce negative effects and may actually be useful to

The British Constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The British Constitution - Essay Example It is also mostly embedded in the written form through various statutes, judgments and treaties apart from the conventional principles. In countries like the USA whose democratic origin has been very recent, writing constitution for a new country after their independence from British rule was a necessity. But, parliamentary democracy in Britain has a very long history and the Parliament of UK is one of the oldest democratic institutions in the world. After the merger of the Parliament of Scotland in 1707 and Ireland in 1801 with the English Parliament, it has been known as the Parliament of the United Kingdom.   The country has an established judiciary system with a long history and the system has been evolving over the period of time mainly based on precedents in the legal landscape.   Parliamentary sovereignty is the fundamental principle of the un-codified British Constitution. There were controversies at the time of UK’s accession to European community based on the con cerns that law-making functions could eventually be transferred to the EC Commission and the Council of Ministers. After the accession of the UK to European Economic Community, European common law has gained preeminence in the UK which is inevitable. In Thoburn v Sunderland City Council [2002] it was observed â€Å"All the specific rights and obligations which EU law creates are by the ECA incorporated into our domestic law and rank supreme: that is, anything in our substantive law inconsistent with any of these rights and obligations.... In Thoburn v Sunderland City Council [2002] it was observed â€Å"All the specific rights and obligations which EU law creates are by the ECA incorporated into our domestic law and rank supreme: that is, anything in our substantive law inconsistent with any of these rights and obligations is abrogated or must be modified to avoid the inconsistency†.   (Baili, 2002) But, it is important that the EU law for this purpose should originate from and authorized by the Parliament. It was asserted in the case that there is nothing in the ECA which allows the Court of Justice, or any other institutions of the EU, to touch or qualify the conditions of Parliament's legislative supremacy in the United Kingdom. In the Thoburn case there was criminal conviction of Steven Thoburn, a green grocer and other defendants for various offences inter alia calibration of weighing machines and the use of unapproved instruments or measures. In such cases which deal with constitutional issues, politica l and legislative implications are also involved. Drewry, G. (2007, p.112) states â€Å"the political and parliamentary implications are every bit as important as the legal ones. Both (one of which is Thoburn’s) cases, in their different ways, were concerned with important areas of national and European public policy, and with legislation that is a product of political processes’. The written constitutions in such cases are likely to pose adaptation problems as the issue covers various aspects of international importance and cross border activities. The establishment of European Court of Justice and its growing significance in the legal system of the United Kingdom and the supremacy of EC law in the event of conflicts with the UK laws have caused a great deal of discussions and

Financial Statement Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Statement Analysis - Assignment Example The financial position and performance of a company can be analyzed with the help of different tools available. However, for the relative performance analysis, common size analysis as well as the traditional ratio analysis is the most effective tools such that they provide a same yardstick to compare the performance of two or more companies over several periods. This particular report emphasizes the performance of Kellogg Co. and Kraft Foods on the basis of common sized analysis and the traditional ratio analysis. Kraft Food Company is one of the world’s largest food companies. In 2011, the estimated revenue of the company is approximated as $54.4 billion whereas the earnings of the company before taxes are amounted as $4.8 billion. Kraft Food incorporated in Virginia in 2000. They have around 126,000 employees all over the world. The company manufactures and markets products related to food which includes confectionery, biscuits, cheese, beverages, packaged grocery, convenient meals etc. The company sells its products to its customers in over 170 different countries. At the end of 2011, the company reported gross assets of $93.8 billion and net assets of $35.5 billion. Kraft Food Company is a member of Standards and Poor 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Ethibel Sustainability Index and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2011, the company’s portfolio included 12 brands. All these 12 brands reported revenues of $1 billion each. The most renowned brands of the company included Oreo, Mila and Cadbury Chocolates, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Nabisco, Maxwell House Coffees, Trident gum, Kraft cheese, dressings and dinners, Tang powdered beverage, LU biscuits and Oscar Mayor Meats. The brand portfolio of the company included around 80 brands which generate revenues exceeding $100 million each year. Kellogg Company was founded in 1906. Its subsidiary companies are engaged in marketing and manufacturing convenience and ready to eat food. The major

Methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Methodology - Essay Example 3.1.2 Phase 2 To identify the role that art has played as a subject in the Iraqi community 3.1.3 Phase 3 To understand and formulate an opinion on the reasons why art is not an important subject in Iraqi secondary schools. 3.1.4 Phase 4 Compare the approach to the teaching and learning of art in the UK with that of Iraq 3.2 Sample & Theorisation Sampling is an important element for the study of a representative body to acquire information about a subject that can be generalised over a wider population (Dodds, 2011). In order to understand each of the four phases, there will be the need to study a carefully selected proportion of the relevant populations to come up with findings that would be applicable to the objective identified. The wider population involves the education authorities in Iraq and the teachers and their classroom activities. In order to examine this, samples will be taken from schools in the UK and in Iraq. For the study in Iraq, students and teachers from two school s will be chosen from Baghdad and two drawn from the major cities of Basrah, Mosul and Al Sulaimanya. There would also be samples of four schools studied in the UK. Based on the responses that will be taken from these four schools in each country and the educational authorities, the research will arrive at conclusions that will be representative of the entire country. Since the samples taken would be representative of the country, the generalisation and theorisation would be more likely to represent people's attitudes towards art education and give information about the state of art education in Iraq. 3.3 Data Collection The main data for the research will be collected from questionnaires and secondary sources. 3.3.1 Secondary Sources (Documents) The secondary sources will include the collection of information about important documents which relate to the position of art education in Iraq and the United Kingdom. This will be done through the perusal of important documents that descr ibe the position of art education in both countries. This will include an examination of current educational policies and important arrangements towards studies in both countries. In the examination of secondary sources, relevance will be the main guiding principle. In other words documents that provide relevant information about the state of Art education at the secondary level in the UK and Iraq will form the basis of the choice of documents to be studied in the research. 3.3.2 Questionnaires Questionnaires will be handed out to the teachers and students that will be chosen in the sample stage from the four schools in the UK and the four schools in Iraq. This will enable the researcher to identify significant information. The questions asked are available below in Appendix 1 and 2. The questionnaires are styled in a close ended format to provide quick and easy information about what the respondents think and state in their research. The questionnaires will be sent out to various r espondents and their responses will be collated. For the purpose of easy analysis, the same questionnaires will be distributed both in the UK and in Iraq. This will ensure that the comparison would be easy and analyses can be completed at a much faster pace. 3.4 Data Analysis The findings of both the secondary source perusal and the

Business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Business ethics - Essay Example The two concepts, affirmative action and â€Å"reverse discrimination†, have been employed, by the American government, to aid in creating an equal environment when it comes to hiring and promoting individuals from minority groups. Affirmative action was brought, on board, to help in annihilating the idea of individuals being discriminated because of the unchangeable aspects in their personalities such as race, sex, color, religion or ethnicity. On the other hand, â€Å"reverse discrimination† entails the idea of discriminating against individuals from minority groups. Individuals, who in the earlier years found themselves to be on the advantageous side or to be in the majority group, are subjected to discrimination, which aims at reversing the unfairness that had been witnessed earlier. â€Å"Reverse discrimination† operates in a manner that people from minority groups are given priority over people from the majority group when it comes to hiring and promotion ( Stuart 17). The best theory to apply in this situation, which pertains to affirmative action and â€Å"reverse discrimination†, is utilitarianism. In essence, the theory of utilitarianism states that a moral rightful action taken in any given circumstance is bound to be beneficial to all parties affected. The theory of utilitarianism, best supports the position of affirmative action and â€Å"reverse discrimination† because it focuses on bringing benefit to most individuals from both groups, which are the majority and the minority. Since Utilitarianism is based on attaining greater good, the affirmative action will be appropriate, as discrimination, which is a negative act affecting many individuals from the minority group will ultimately be eliminated (Kowalski 5). Affirmative action ensures that minorities are protected from any form of discrimination, which they are likely to face when it comes to

Canadian Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Canadian Economy - Essay Example Besides the USA, the trade agreements saw an increase in Canadian trade among other countries such as Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Mexico and other southern American states.(Beltrame) This had profound benefits for the country and the economy growth has been soaring since. Besides those agreements that took place about a decade ago, the country has entered into a free trade agreement with the European Union which has further offered a boost to the already robust economy. The signing of this agreement took place in 2008. The economy of Canada is supported by several sectors which must be looked at as having a better understanding of the economy and the effects of the economy. These include the service sector, the manufacturing sector, the energy sector and the agriculture sector. This is the largest of the sectors in the Canadian economy, accounting for just about two thirds of the total GDP. The largest of the employers under this sector are the retail sector which employs about 14% of the total Canadian work force. Initially, the retail sector was composed of small retail outlets within the urban centers as well as in the suburbs. However, entry of big outlet stores such as the Future Shop and the Wal-Mart stores originally of the US has forced most of the small retail outlets to migrate to the suburbs where they still employ a considerable number of people. Other employers in the service sector include the business services sector which employs about 12% of the Canadian population. The sectors falling under this are the real estate firms and the banks. The other important sectors falling within the service sector are the education and health sectors. Though these are not part of the private sector, they continue to provide reasonable employment opportunities to the rest of the Canadian economy. The last of the service sector includes the hospitality cum tourism sectors which are equally important for the country. (Viera) Though with the recent recession, there has been a decline in the number of tourists visiting the country mainly due to the strong Canadian dollar. The highest numbers of tourists visiting Canada are from the US though the recent times have seen an increase in Asian tourists especially those from China. Manufacturing sector The manufacturing industry in Canada unlike in most other developed countries is not the core business, though this is not to mean it is unimportant. Most of the industries or manufacturing companies in Canada are affiliates of externally founded companies with an example being the motor industry. Most motor manufacturing industries have a manufacturing plant in Canada but none of them are indigenous. The reason for this has been cited to be the cheaper service charges in Canada e.g. lower health care insurance as compared to the United States. Besides this, Canada has a greater population of educated people making labor considerably lower as compared to the US. Canada presents one of the most interesting economies with a minimal reliance on industries the opposite of other developed countries around the world. Agriculture Canada was initially an agricultural nation especially in the 19th century; that is before the service industry gained considerable dominance in the 20th century. Even in current times, the country is a major exporter of wheat globally though most of it goes to the neighboring US. The Canadian government

Eiffel Tower or the Lady of Iron Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Eiffel Tower or the Lady of Iron - Essay Example In 1909, it was decided to dismantle the tower however the process never took place because the tower was being used for Radio transmission. The government of France decided to hold a monument contest. It was intended that the best monument will be displayed in the World Fair of 1889. The design for the Eiffel Tower by Gustave was unanimously selected out of 700 monument designs received. The construction on the Tower began in 1887, at first Parisians did not like the Eiffel Tower and considered it to be an eyesore. Most of them wanted the Tower to be dismantled, however, when the construction was completed, the tower became a prominent French symbol. French structural Engineer Gustave received the assistance of two other engineers Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin during the construction. The architect who assisted Gustave in the construction was Stephen Sauvestre. The Tower was constructed by three hundred workers who joined 18,038 pieces of pure structural iron known as the ‘puddled iron’. During the construction, 2.5 million rivets were used to join the pieces of puddled iron together. The Eiffel Tower has an open frame supported by two platforms, thus during its construction, there was a danger of losing human lives. To minimize the danger level, Gustave ordered the use of movable staging, screens as well as guard-rails. Due to the precautionary measures were taken during the entire period of construction, only one man lost his life. The construction of the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889 and the inauguration ceremony was held on 31st March 1889. The Tower was officially opened on 9th May 1889. In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in France. However, now the tallest structure in France is Millau Viaduct and Eiffel Tower is the second tallest structure. The Tower has three floors and has a height of 324 meters or 1,063 feet. The heights of the three floors are 57 m, 115 m and276 m respectively. Eiffel Tower was not loved by all Parisians and it received much criticism during the time of its opening.

Obama Vs. Clinton Essay Example for Free

Obama Vs. Clinton Essay The Affordable Health Care Act is a very in-depth process. The changes to the health care system were attempted to be passed in prior years by Bill Clinton. However, it failed at this time and was implemented in the United States by the current president Barack Obama. The Congress diversity of Democrats vs. Republican’s was very similar in both Clintons and Obamas time in office. There were many steps that were taken in creating this policy, and some of those steps succeeded, and some of those steps failed. Any new process would be expected to have some issues to work through as it was created. The Affordable Health Care Act still has some issues to work on, but many steps succeeded and that is why it has been implemented during Obamas term. Health Care Reform was in some ways similar in both Obama and Clinton’s proposals, but greatly different as well. Clinton’s main focus in the policy was to make health care mandatory for all Americans and have universal coverage. Employers would pay 80 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums, with the employee covering the remaining costs (Khan, 2014). However, both policies have the same goal of providing health insurance to all people. Each policy creates the ways of completing this task differently. Clinton’s health care reform plan was very complex. It involved high levels of government involvement in the health care industry. A federal national health board would have overseen the health system, and would be tasked with regulating premiums and overseeing benefits (Khan, 2014). Health care alliances at the state level would conduct a similar task, and states would have had the authority to regulate plans and have the option to create a single-payer system (Khan, 2014). The policy would be more of a government takeover, than assisting Americans with health  insurance. This was something that was not found to be favorable by many stakeholders. Obama’s reform allows for people with private insurance to keep their insurance. He is creating a government insurance company to compete with the private insurance companies. However, Obama still faces struggles with Republicans being opposed to this idea as well. The concern of finances was also purposed similar in both policy creations. Both presidents plan on the bill not adding to the deficit of the country. Another similarity between the two plans was that insurances companies could no longer deny a client because of their previous medical conditions. This has been another successful step in the process. Health Care Reform was created very similar but still with great differences between each president. The Affordable Health Care Act was successful for Obama mostly because of the way he pushed the bill through congress. Obama used Clinton’s health care reform failures as lessons and a blueprint of what not to do. This made him about to learn from past failure and make changes along the way. Different steps were taken in creating both of the policies. As Clinton moved slowly on this policy, Obama pushed his through quickly (Oberlander, 2014). Moving quickly was a decision that helped the policy succeeding, whereas, moving slowly caused it to fail. However, both presidents did pitch their speech about the Affordable Health Care Act before a joint session of Congress. This was not a successful step for either president. Both Obama and Clinton did not have great support for the policy, and this caused great suffering. Obama allowed for alternative methods in this policy whereas Clinton did not. Although both presidents had a wonderful idea, the steps that they took in implementing the policy are what changed the success of it. Both policies have similar stakeholders. When discussing health care insurance the stakeholders do not often change because the policies were slightly different. Stakeholders consist of business, insurance companies, and the American Medical Association. Other stakeholders consist of the people of the United States of America. There was much skepticism about the policy plans that both presidents were rolling out by the people of America. It is important that the presidents did not only look at stakeholders of large companies, but the everyday people of the community and employees of the health care industry as stakeholders as well. There were also government stakeholders in both  policies. However, the government level of stakeholders was greater in Clinton’s policy because his consist of government takeover. Stakeholders are crucial to the success of any policy. The Affordable Health Care Act has so far been successfully implemented by Obama. However, like any other new policy there are some issues still to be worked on. Obama was a success on passing this policy because he used the mistakes of the past to make his policy succeed. Even though there were struggles and steps that failed in Obama’s plan as well, there were more that succeed. Clinton’s policy was more government based and had many failures. The stakeholders for both presidents’ policies were similar. The Affordable Health Care Act has been in progress by many presidents for many years. However, it has been Obama’s plan that has been the most successful. Reference Oberlander, J. (2014). Long Time Coming: Why Health Reform Finally Passed. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/6/1112.full Khan, H. (2014). Throwback to 1993? Whats New About Democrats Health Care Plans. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/HealthCare/health-care-reform-president-obama-path-bill-clinton/story?id=8675596

Alcohol as an Ergogenic Aid Essay Example for Free

Alcohol as an Ergogenic Aid Essay Alcohol, more specifically ethyl alcohol or ethanol, is a depressant that provides 7 kCal of energy per gram, and is the most abused drug for athletes and non-athletes in the United States. Prior to my research on alcohol, I assumed that alcohol abuse was not prevalent among college athletes, outside of the occasional partying that normal college students partake in as well. But according to Lifestyles and Health Risks of Collegiate Athletes, college athletes generally drink more heavily and are more likely to engage in binge drinking than non-athletes1, and contrary to my belief, in the psychologic realm, some have argued that alcohol before competition reduces tension and anxiety, enhances self-confidence, and promotes aggressiveness. Alcohol use exaggerates the dehydrating effect of exercise and places an athlete at greater risk for heat injury during exercise. Many athletes consume alcohol-containing beverages after exercising or sports competition and the bottom line is that alcohol-containing beverages impede rehydration. 2 Alcohol is a drug that is absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach and small intestine. In the fasting state, the majority of alcohol will be absorbed within 15 minutes and a maximum blood level will occur in approximately 20 minutes, with 80-90% complete absorption achieved within 30-60 minutes. The rate of absorption of alcohol and subsequent appearance of alcohol in the blood is dependent on the rate of consumption, volume consumed, the proof of the alcohol, the presence of carbonation (which speeds up absorption), the presence or absence of food in the stomach, and if the user is taking any medication. It is broken down by the liver and then eliminated from the body, and while some alcohol metabolizes in the cells lining the stomach, most breaks down in the liver. Until the liver can break down all of the alcohol, the drug will circulate in the bloodstream, affecting all of the bodys organs, including the brain. There are limits to how fast the liver can breakdown alcohol and nothing can speed up this process, and when alcohol reaches the brain, the user will begin to feel drunk. Alcohol depresses the brain and reduces the ability to control your body and mind. This is what makes alcohol so dangerous and if you drink too much alcohol, your breathing or heart rate can reach dangerously low levels or even stop. Alcohol has been described as an athletic performance impairing drug. Exercise is a complex activity utilizing many of the bodys organ systems and alcohol exerts an effect on most of these systems, including the central nervous system, muscle energy storages and the cardiovascular system. Heavy alcohol intake over a long period of time can decrease exercise performance by slowing down the hearts response to exercise, muscle damage, weakness, inefficient heart performance, and decreased capacity to gain muscle. 9 Drinking the day or night of a competition hinders athletic performance and exercising with a hangover can decrease aerobic performance by as much as 11 %! 9 Alcohol has even been linked with asthma. Athletes who regularly consume alcohol are more prone to injury. The smartest choice for a collegiate athlete would be to avoid the consumption of alcohol, especially in high volumes. Some of the risks of drinking alcohol are vomiting, blacking out and not remembering what you did while you were drunk, passing out in an unfamiliar place or a place where your safety could be at risk, decreased inhibitions resulting in embarrassing and dangerous behavior, a hangover which includes: nausea, fatigue, upset stomach, headache, sore muscles, cotton mouth, lack of motivation, alcohol-related injuries resulting from loss of inhibitions and coordination and death by nervous system failure, injury and choking on your own vomit. The two most fatal risks of alcohol are drunken driving deaths, and alcoholism related deaths. There are over 100,000 alcohol related deaths a year and alcohol-related traffic collisions kill more young people between the ages of 16 and 24 than any other single cause. Alcoholism, or alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes strong cravings for alcohol and continuing to drink, despite repeated alcohol-related problems. Although alcoholism can be developed due to excessive consumption, a user is at higher risk when the disease runs in the family. The four main symptoms of alcoholism are craving, impaired control, tolerance, and physical dependence. 3,4 For most adults, moderate alcohol use is up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people. Obivously, the safest way to avoid alcoholism is to not drink at all. But if one must intake alcohol they should try to stay around the moderate alcohol intake. Are there any benefits of alcohol intake? Prior to my research I would have answered no. But moderate daily alcohol intake actually does have some benefits. 2 oz or 30 mL of 90 proof alcohol, or slightly less than three 12 oz beers reduce a healthy person’s risk of heart attack and stroke, independent of physical activity level. 5,6,7 In fact, alcohol affects HDL levels just about as strongly as any other lifestyle factor, and may cause a rise in LDL levels thus stopping a critical step in plaque formation in the arteries. 8 Alcohol is the most abused drug in the United States by athletes and non-athletes. After my research I was shocked to learn the seriousness of its effects in the short and long term. The Health effects of alcohol have been observed in nearly every organ of the body, and its consumption has been linked to more than 60 diseases. The effects of alcohol on health can be disease, accidents, and injuries. The effects can be just as immediate and apparent when they show up in athletes. Alcohol impedes hydration, and being dehydrated can cause many problems for an athlete ranging from injury to poor performance. Although those effects are only immediate and short term, athletes are not immune from contracting long term effects such as asthma, liver disease/failure, and heart disease. After learning about how alcohol is metabolized, I realized how long the process takes and all of the organs of your body it affects. Overall, alcohol does not have any ergogenic aid, and the smartest choice for an athlete would be to avoid the drug as a whole.

Theories of Risk and Uncertainty

Theories of Risk and Uncertainty Outline the main social theories of risk and uncertainty using at least one example as illustration. One of the most lively areas of theoretical debate in social and cultural theory in recent times is that addressing the phenomenon of risk and the role it plays in contemporary social life and subjectivities. Three major theoretical perspectives on risk emerging since the early 1980s and gaining momentum in the 1990s may be distinguished. The first is offered by the work of Mary Douglas, who Began in the early 1980s setting forth an influential perspective on risk, one that adopts a cultural anthropological approach (Douglas and Wildavsky, 1982; Douglas, 1985, 1990, 1992). The German sociologist Ulrich Becks book ‘Risk society, published in English in 1992, has provided a major impetus to recent sociological examination of risk ( for some of his other writing on risk in English see also Beck, (1992a; Beck and Gernsheim, 1995). The English sociologist Anthony Giddens (1990,1991,1994,1998), adopting a similar perspective to that of Beck, has also influenced sociological diagnoses of the role of role in society. A third perspective is offered by the several theorist who have taken up Michel Foucaults writings on governmentality ( For example, Foucault, 1991) to explore the ways in which the state and other governmental apparatuses work together to govern that is, manage and regulate populations via risk discourses and strategies (Castel, 1991; Ewald, 1991; OMalley, 1996; Dean, 1997). These major theories are identified respectively as the ‘cultural/symbolic, the ‘risk society and the governmentality perspectives. Michel Foucault Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, sociologist and historian. In his book Security, Territory, Population, Foucault outlines his theory of governmentality, and demonstrates the distinction between sovereignty, discipline, and governmentality as distinct modalities of state power. [1] The concept of risk, employed to address governmental concerns, has contributed to the production of certain kinds of rationalities, strategies and subjectivities. According to the Foucauldian perspective, risk strategies and discourses are means of ordering the social and material worlds through methods of rationalization and calculation, attempts to render disorder and uncertainty more controllable. It is these strategies and discourses that bring risk into being, that select certain phenomena as being ‘risky and therefore requiring management, either by institutions or individuals. This is an outcome of the emergence of the modern system of liberal government, with its emphasis on rule an d the maintenance of order through voluntary self-discipline rather than via violent means. Risk is understood as one of the heterogeneous governmental strategies of disciplinary power by which populations and individuals are monitored and managed so as to best meet the goals of democratic humanism. Normalization, or the method by which norms of behaviour or health status are identified in populations and by which individuals are the compared to determine how best they fit the norm, is a central aspect of liberal government. Those who are determined to deviate from the norm significantly are typically identified as being ‘at risk. To be designated as ‘at risk, therefore, is to be positioned within a network of factors drawn from the observation of others. The implication of this rationalized discourse is that risk is ultimately controllable, as long as expert knowledge can be properly brought to bear upon it. Some of those taking up a Foucauldian perspective have remarked upon recent change in the governance of risk, in which there is far less reliance upon social insurance and far more upon individual self-management and self-protection from risk. This is an outcome of the political ethos of neo-liberalism, which emphasizes minimal intervention on the part of the state and emphasizes ‘self-help and individual autonomy for citizens. [2]Foucault himself and those taking up his perspectives on the regulation of subjects via the discourses of governmentality may be criticized for devoting too much attention to the discourses and strategies and not enough to how people actually respond to them as part of their everyday lives. Mary Douglas The authors suggest, reasonably enough, that ones personal political and cultural predispositions affect how one assess the risk of different possible social dangers. If this were the only factor affecting peoples risk assessment, it would be quite difficult to generate an informed social policy in a democratic society, and research in to actual risk levels associated with different degrees of social damage would be worthless, since people simply listen to the gurus that support their personal positions. The authors present no data. Why is data important? Because if 90% of voters fit their description, we are in a much different situation that if 10% do. My best guess is that people systematically underestimate most social risks (e.g. accidental nuclear war, deadly SARS-type plagues) and overestimate a few (riskiness of air travel, danger of poisons in food). Most people, however, are willing to let the ideologues battle it out, and are strongly affected by the way the journalistic accounts of the battle portrays the cogencies of different positions. If I am right, the extremists on either side of positions, of the sort depicted by the authors, perform a valuable function but do not determine the outcome for the purposes of social policy. For instance, there are vehement supporters of gun control and equally vehement supporters of the rights of gun owners. Most voters, however, lie somewhere in the middle and are swayed both by events and scientific evidence. If that is so, the possi bility of effective social policy is possible in a democracy. But, some say, the extremists are willing to put in time and money to sway the public, so ideology wins the day in this manner. I respond that it is wise for voters to take the strength of preferences into account in making social policy decisions. At any rate, no balanced discussion of these issues will be found in this volume. According to the NYT review Offering what they call a cultural theory of risk perception, the authors suggest that peoples complaints about hazards should never be taken at face value. One must look further to discover what forms of social organization are being defended or attacked. Applying this logic, we have to ask what Mary Douglas and Wildavsky have to gain from advancing this argumentand their consistently dismissive and condescending attitude toward environmentalists makes this fairly clear. If your unenlightened opposition INSISTS on talking about certain risks AS IF that was what REALLY mattered then you are, of course, completely justified in disregarding their point of view, (and for that matter them) entirely. Cultural Theory, as developed by Mary Douglas, argues that differing risk perceptions can be explained by reference to four distinct cultural biases: hierarchy, egalitarianism, individualism, and fatalism. Ulrich Beck Central to Becks and Giddens writing on risk society is the concept of reflexive modernity. This concept incorporates the notion that late modernity is characterized by a critique of the processes of modernity, which no longer unproblematically viewed as producing ‘goods (such as wealth and employment) but are now seen to produce many of the dangers or ‘bads from which we feel threatened (such as environmental pollution, unemployment and family breakdown). The central institutions of late modernity government, industry and science are singles out as the main producers of risk. An emphasis on risk, Beck and Giddens assert, is thus an integral feature of a society which has come to reflect upon itself, to critique itself. Exponents of the ‘risk society thesis also argue that in late modernity there is a trend towards individualization, or the progressive loss of tradition and social bonds as a means of structuring the life-course and forming personal identity. A major difference, they argue, in the ways in which we conceptualize and deal with dangers compared with individuals in earlier eras is the extent to which individuals are positioned as choosing agents. We now think of ourselves as exercising a high level of control over the extent to which we expose ourselves to danger and therefore as culpable for becoming prey to risk. Risk is primarily understood as a human responsibility, both in its production and management, rather than the outcome of fate or destiny, as was the case in pre-modern times. [1] Â · ^ Hansen, Thomas (2001). States of Imagination. Durham: Duke University Press. p.43. ISBN 0822327988. [2] Dean, M. (1999) Governmentality, Sage, London