The Code of Hammurabi Essay Example for Free

The Code of Hammurabi Essay The Code of Hammurabi is remembered more for the punishments set for each crime, and not for the crimes themselves. The â€Å"eye for an eye† rule and the plentiful crimes that may result to a death penalty may seem harsh for us nowadays, but the Code has been the basis of other subsequent laws used to govern a society. â€Å"By far the most remarkable of the Hammurabi records is his code of laws, the earliest-known example of a ruler proclaiming publicly to his people an entire body of laws, arranged in orderly groups, so that all men might read and know what was required of them. † (Fordham University ) The Code is also considered Hammurabi’s best legacy not only to his people, but to other societies as well. This is understandable because Hammurabi has ruled over the world’s oldest metropolis, Babylon. During those times, the code of law is considered â€Å"a subject for prayer†, although the dominant view is contempt for the violators of the law. (Yale Law School) The Code of Hammurabi is basically a list of rules for a community. There are negative and positive results that can be expected with the implementation of the set rules. Hammurabi, Babylon’s ruler, has formulated the laws in order to make sure that his kingdom maintains peace, order and justice. He is presented as a king who is also a wise law-giver. However, as said earlier, there are advantages and disadvantages in implementing the Code of Hammurabi. Due to the strictness and gravity of the punishments, the Code may actually create a peaceful community. Fear is instilled in the people of Babylon. The Code also aims to promote balance and over-all justice in the community: â€Å"†¦Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind. † (Yale Law School) I believe that the Code is well-intended. It must also have been a success because there are other set of rules that seem to follow the Code of Hammurabi. If one should peruse the Ten Commandments, some similarities can be discovered. Basically, what is considered a sin in Hammurabi’s time is still considered a sin or a violation of the law. However, the Commandments have reduced the violations that should be punishable by death. In fact, the emphasis is on what should not be done, not on what punishments should be implemented. This negative way of setting rules, like â€Å"Thou shall not kill† is its similarity to the Code of Hammurabi, except that the Code attaches the punishments to what must not be done. (Bible. Org) There are many points in the Code which talks about punishment for things that are prohibited or for things that are not proved. â€Å"If anyone brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death, (Yale Law School) † is an example of the laws enumerated in the Code of Hammurabi. This can be compared to the Ten Commandments’ law against bearing false witness against a neighbor. â€Å"If anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death† is an example of a punishment attached to the crime which is prohibited. In this case, the rule states that robbers should be put to death. (Yale Law School) Like the other rules, the intention is to discourage people from committing the crime. Other rules with punishments of a less serious degree attached seem to be more reminiscent of state laws rather than religious laws. Surprisingly, even within a Code which can be often harsh and unforgiving, there are also some provisions in some laws that will provide options to the one who has been wronged. For example, if the wife is caught committing adultery, the husband is given an option to forgive her. It also gives importance to fairness in trade and contracts. Persons who own properties, including slaves, must make sure that they have the proper documentation ready for cases that will question the validity of ownership. This will gauge if stealing or cheating has occurred. This is a common sense rule which prevails today. The above mentioned statements support the positive effect of the Code of Hammurabi. Nevertheless, the Code is not without its flaws. Although the fear that is instilled in the people by giving harsh penalties may reduce the crime rate in any given society, the very fear may be detrimental to the psyche of the people ruled by the law. I believe that it is not fully satisfying to command people with the weapon of fear. The Code cannot ensure the goodness of the people, only their outward behavior. Although I think that the Code of Hammurabi is well-intended, as it aims for a just and peaceful community, there are laws within it that actually violates my sense of justice. There are punishments that are too harsh for the crime that it is meant to castigate. For example, a woman who is to set up a tavern or even just to enter a tavern to have a drink will be burned to death. The Code is also not without its share of superstition. In the absence of other means to prove guilt, measures like making people swim in the river and then judging them to be guilty if they drown, seem to be superstitious and ignorant. Obviously, this manner of investigation cannot work during modern times when people train to become stronger swimmers. In life, we like to believe that we are given several chances to change our ways. Even modern prisons allow for some conversion, religious or secular they may be. Death penalties are only implemented whenever heinous crimes are encountered. However, the Code of Hammurabi seems to pride itself in preventing a person to commit the same mistake. â€Å"If a judge tries a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judges bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment†. (Yale Law School) The above example shows the finality of the Code’s decision on a person’s fate. Of course this will have its advantages as well. If the error committed has affected many lives in a serious way, like in medical malpractices of today, licenses are revoked. As a conclusion, I believe that the Code of Hammurabi is an effective set of rules formulated by a just ruler. Nevertheless, there is a need to adjust some of the penalties in order to fit today’s sense of justice. The Ten Commandments, and other religious laws, have already condensed the Code’s contents while state or government laws have versions of its secular pointers. Works Cited: Bible. Org. 20 October 2007 http://www. bible. org/page. php? page_id=146. Fordham University . 20 October 2007 http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode. html. Yale Law School. The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. 17 October 2007 http://www. yale. edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/hamframe. htm.

Applying Psychology to Homelessnes Essay Example for Free

Applying Psychology to Homelessnes Essay Housing is a basic human want and plays an important role in ensuring the well-being children and adults. Stable housing is a necessary need for positive child and youth development in society. Although proper housing is essential for human biological and social development, statistics have shown a rising cases of homeless families with children in recent years because of inadequate affordable houses (The United States Conference of Mayors, 2006). Homelessness is a complicated socioeconomic issue with several economic and social factors underlying it. The socioeconomic factors include; poverty, inadequate affordable housing, some biological and mental ill health, community disintegration and family breakdown. These are the factors which in combinations, would contribute to the frequency, and type of homelessness (The United States Conference of Mayors, 2006). Homeless means to live without proper shelter; many people experience partial homelessness by living in uncertain, temporary, and sub-standard shelters. Homelessness has become national disaster in some countries. Some of the biological causes of homelessness are mental ill health (The United States Conference of Mayors, 2006). Due to the hard circumstances that befall homeless people throughout their lives, statistics have shown that there are higher rates of mental illness affecting this population. During the year 2008 survey conducted by the U.S Conferences of Mayors, showed mental illness the third largest cause of homelessness in the United States (The United States Conference of Mayors, 2006). Mental illnesses can be biological and medical conditions which affect the normal activity of the human brain and mind. It often affects one’s moods, emotions as well as the thought processes. The functionality of the mind is diminished hence reducing their ability of the affected individuals to take care of themselves or their living environment hence may not care even if they are living in the streets (Nielsen, 2011). Mental illness also affects an individual’s ability to make and maintain friendship and relationships and therefore, issues involving mental illness can push those closer to the affected individual away. In such case the people closer may remain homeless by keeping away or they may dispose the affected individual to be homeless in the streets (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). The other biological factor leading to homelessness is depression. Depressive disorders have been proved to be the most common factor causing homelessness with nearly 25% of homeless individuals suffering from depression. It controls individual’s outlook on life and their ability to judge circumstances. It results to low self-esteem, a loss of interest in actions that were once important as well as incapacitating effect on people’s ability to relate to others (Nielsen, 2011). Depression can be trigger homelessness because one feels isolated and lonely being homeless (Ravenhill, 2008). The feelings of isolation and loneliness have adverse effects on the relationship and could trigger rooflessness, for example, parental neglect (Ravenhill, 2008) Identify and describe at least 2 social factors that may be related to becoming or being homeless. Talk about how these factors may play a role in homelessness and support your statements with research evidence, where necessary Social factor that can cause homelessness is economic insecurity in a community or family. According to statistical findings, in the year 2005, almost 60% of individuals earning an income of less than 30% of the HUD were paying more than half of their salary on housing and accommodation, and almost the same percentage of people were also living in poor and inadequate housing (Ravenhill, 2008). Inadequate affordable housing for rental and the high economic recession have contributed to the increasing number of homeless adults and children. Economic recession have led to the high number of unemployed and has also increased laying off of employees hence people cannot afford decent housing due to lack of the rental allowance. Violence at home is another social factor that has led to homelessness in the United States of America. Violence often predicts whether children and adults would experience homelessness or not. Research has shown that most homeless mothers with children have at one point in their families experienced domestic violence. Domestic violence may make somebody run away from home to safety and in the process the affected find themselves homeless in the streets. This social factor has mostly affected women and children. Women and children in homeless shelters and those affected by domestic violence shelters are affected by same experiences like exposure to traumatic lives. Intimate family violence often triggers housing instability and in the process, one partner may run away from home. The domestic violence can be brutal beating or sexual abuse to a partner or a child (Ravenhill, 2008). In solving the problem of homelessness, the government should increase housing subsidies and provide permanent accommodation for those people living in domestic violence affected families, and unaccompanied youths. Research has shown that families who get housing subsidies are likely to have permanent housing stability than those who do not receive housing subsidy (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2008). Reference Nielsen, S. (2011). Psychiatric disorders and mortality among people in homeless shelters in Denmark: a nationwide register-based cohort study. The Lancet, 377, 2205-2214. Ravenhill, M. (2008). The culture of homelessness. Abingdon, Oxon: Ashgate Publishing Group. The United States Conference of Mayors. (2006). A status report on hunger and homelessness in America’s cities. Retrieved April 27, 2014 from http://www.usmayors.org/publicationsNational Coalition for the Homeless. (2008). How many people experience homelessness? Retrieved April 27, 2014 from http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/families Source document

Spatial-temporal Analysis of Land Market in Urban Fringe

Spatial-temporal Analysis of Land Market in Urban Fringe 1. Research context There is a widespread deem that urbanisation is the outcome of the configuration of modern human society. The 19th century, which assumed to be the era of modernization all over the world, has experienced rapid urbanisation. For instance, urban population has increased from less than 14 percent to more than 50 percent of the worlds population during 1900-2000 and if this growth continues, urban population in the world will arrive at 4.72 -5.00 billion in 2030 (increase of 48.61-57.84 percent comparing to the current population) comparing to 6.835-8.135 billion (18.71 percent) increase in total population and 3.348-3.267 billion (2.42 percent) decrease in rural population. Nevertheless, the devastating situation will be at the developing countries, where the urban population growth is forecasted to be 74.17 percent in 2030 comparing to the current population (Zhang, 2008). Interestingly, maximum of this urban population agglomeration is in largest cities, especially megaciites (Li, 20 03) and these megacities are growing at an unprecedented rate. For example, in 1950 there were only 4 megacities, which increase to 28 in 1980, 39 in 2002; and 59 in 2015 (UN 2002). Then the question arises which criteria define the megacities. Some urban geographers tried to define the megacities based on the global economic power or influence. With the exception of Lo and Yeungs (1998) ‘Globalization and the World of Large Cities, which includes Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo and Johannesburg, and more recently systematic work by Taylor (2000), Lo and Marcotullio (2000), Taylor and Walker (2001) and Shin and Timberlake (2000) much of these works (Friedmann, 1986; Sassen, 2004) have either focused on the developed world or merely mentioned ‘megacities in the developing world (Yulong and Hamnett, 2002). However, an extensive debate has still been going on the definition of megacities. United Nations categorize the megacities with population of 8 millions while Asian Development Bank extends the population limit to 10 million along with other characteristics such as complex economy and integrated transport system. Thus, discussion takes into account the ‘population greater than 10 millions as an indicator of megacities. According to the World Population Report 2001 by UNFPA, currently there are 19 megacities such as Tokyo (26.4 millions), Mexico City (18.1 millions), Mumbai (18.1 millions), Sà £o Paulo (17.8 millions), Shanghai (17 millions), New York (16.6 millions), Lagos (13.4 millions), Los Angeles (13.1 millions), Calcutta (12.9 millions), Buenos Aires (12.6 millions), Dhaka (12.3 millions), Karachi (11.8 millions), New Delhi (11.7 millions), Jakarta (11 millions), Osaka (11 millions), Metro Manila (10.9 millions), Beijing (10.6 millions), Reo de Janeiro (10.6 millions) and Cairo (10.6 millions). Still there is a controversy about the geographical extent of these megacities. Even some of these megacities are growing on forming the urban corridors (Tokyo-Yokohama-Nagoya-Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Shinkansen in Japan, Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan in northeastern China; and the Mumbai-Pune development corridor in India) and urban mega-clusters (national capital Region of Delhi, Dhaka, and Metro Manila; Karachi mega-urban region, Bangkok-Thonburi metropolitan region, and Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi region). This continuing growth of megacities is now the burning research topic of the policy makers as well as international communities (Renaud, 1981; UN, 1993) and different policies are already been applied to counterpart this rapid urbanisations in megacities such as China, Egypt, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, and China have promoted different promotional programs (e.g. dual track urban system) for patronizing the medium size cities in their respective country level (Henderson, 2002; Ades and Glaeser, 1995). Still a comprehensive strategy needs to be initiated in order to counterpart the unprecedented rate of urbanisation and urban agglomeration. 2. Overall aim and objectives The overall aim of the thesis is to determine the economic value of land at the urban fringe of a megacity in developing country. Based on the aim, the objectives are categorised into two broad areas theoretical objectives and empirical objectives. Theoretical objectives To examine the extent of influence of urbanisation process, and land acquisition and speculation, by both the public and private sectors, on the dynamics of urban agglomeration or urban sprawl. To examine the changing urban spatial patterns of the megacites due to sprawl and to explain them within the framework of different urban growth theories. To examine the nature, characteristics, and dynamics of urban land and the land market within which land assembles, urban renewal, gentrification and development has taken place. To identify different spatio-temporal econometric methods for determining land price. Empirical objectives To develop an economic instrument, considering both spatial and temporal aspects of land, for understanding the dynamics of the land price at urban fringe of a megacity in developing country To determine the extent of influence of environmental attributes on the price of urban-rural interface lands. 3. Methodology In order to attain the objectives, the research will be carried out by following the comprehensive methodology, the structure of which is given below: The detail of the methodology and structure of the chapters to attain the objectives is given below: Objectives Methodology Organizati-on of chapters Objective 1: Definition of urbanisation and urban agglomeration; reasons; challenges; trend of urbanisation in developed and developing countries; growth pattern of different hierarchy of urban settlements; socio-economic, political and physical characteristics of urban settlements; economic, institutional, and political factors of rural-urban migration; government policies and urban politics in the context of urbanisation and urban agglomeration; concept, nature, characteristics and dynamics of megacities; spatial pattern of megacities; cases and consequences of rapid urbanisation and urban space challenges especially in megacities. Literature review of journal, books and reports of different organisations working on urbanisation and urban agglomeration Chapter 2 Objective 2: Urban land economic theories (such as classical theories, neo-classical theories, new economic geographic theories, and new institutional economic theories) in the context of urbanisation and urban agglomeration Literature review of journal and books Chapter 3 Objective 3: Dynamics of urban land market, urban land politics, actors of urban land politics, contemporary urban land regulatory mechanisms and their acceptability in different contexts, planning mechanisms for controlling land conversion or development at the urban fringe, land acquisition process, government strategy for land ceiling standard and land speculation, actors controlling the land market, impact of land use change on the wetlands and agricultural lands at urban fringe and challenges for attaining sustainability. Literature review of journal, books, reports of different organisations, and government policies, strategic plans, rules, and regulations. Chapter 4 Objective 4: Different types of spatio-temporal econometric methods for determining the land price at urban fringe Literature review of journal and books. Software for Spatio-temporal autoregressive analysis Chapter 5 Objective 5: variables or attributes explaining land market at urban fringe, compatible econometric instrument for drawing the equation of land market at urban fring Application of spatio-temporal econometric model for regression analysis Chapter 8 Objective 6: economic valuation of environmental attributes and its influence on the land market at urban fringe 4. Theoretical framework Various factors are attributed to the urbanisation in megacities such as rural-urban migration (Goldstein, 1990; Chan, 1994a,1994b; Rempel, 1996; Ma, 1999), natural population increase and even the government policies (Lo, 1994; Sit, 1995; Lin, 2004; Bloom et al., 2008) on foreign direct investment (Sit and Yang, 1997; Shen, 1999; Shen et al., 2000), expansion of tertiary industries (Lin, 2002) and economic transition (Gu and Wall, 2007). This section explores the reasons behind the urbanisation and urban agglomeration in megacities, and spatial patterns of megacities. Economic development There is a significant positive correlation between the economic development and urbanisation (Henderson, 2003), which can better be explained by the hypothesis of Williamson (1965) (Hansen, 1990). Due to the economic development of the city, the significant amount of industries are concentrated within the city core and this upshots in development of knowledge, skills, and economic infrastructure which leads to development of physical structures such as transport and communications. This physical development make obligatory to the investors or manufacturers to recalculate the cost-benefit analysis of the geographical locations of their industries taking into account the external and internal economies of scale- resulting in urban expansion or deconcentration of industries from the urban core (El-Shakhs, 1972; Alonso, 1980; Wheaton and Shishido, 1981; Junius, 1999; Davis and Henderson, 2003; Barro and Sala-I-Martin, 1991, 1992; Kuznets, 1966; Abramovitz, 1989; Easterlin, 2000). This a rgument is vivid by reviewing different literatures on the economic growth and urbanisation in megacities (Aguilar and Ward, 2003; Firman, 1997; Fanni, 2006). However, the basic assumption of urbanisation is the rural-urban migration. According to the western economists, urbanisation/ rural-urban migration is the resultant of increase in the productivity of agricultural sector and the increasing demand for labour needed by an expanding industrial sector. This economic model was adopted for the western economics, which was later tried to adopt in the urbanisation pattern of the third world countries by Lewis (1994). Nevertheless, the increasing rural-urban migration, despite the high unemployment and underemployment situation in urban areas of developing countries, raises the question of its validity. Later on, comparative evaluation of expected wage rates between urban and rural (by Harris-Todaro migration model), and present value of expected benefits and costs (by Sjaasted migration model) were identified as the key economic factors of urbanisation process. Brueckner and Zenou (1999) and Brueckner and Kim (2001) have incorporate the effe cts of land price escalation due to the migration within the Harris-Todaro model. Furthermore, classical economists (e.g. (Gordon, 1975; Petty, 1683; Yang, 1991; Yang and Rice, 1994; Sun, 2000; Sun and Yang, 2002; Zhang and Zhao, 2004) and neo-classical economists (e.g. Fujita-Krugman, 1995; Helpman, 1998; Lowry, 1966) try to project the ‘division of labor and production, and ‘economies of scale as the basic economic prerequisite of urbanisation respectively. Government policies and urban politics After the economic development, the next significant characteristic of urbanisation in megacities is government interventions or policies (Renaud, 1981; Ades and Glaeser, 1995; Moomaw and Shatter, 1996; Henderson and Becker, 2000; Davis and Henderson, 2003) by sometimes prioritizing the megacities over other cities during decisive policymaking (Fujita et al., 1999). This may cause because of their political significance and interest of the elites and bureaucrats (such as in Bangkok, Mexico City, Jakarta, and Paris, Sà £o Paulo). For promoting economic development in the megacities, the government (either national or local) of concerned countries sometime has taken promotion strategies such as in Shanghai, China (Cai, 1995; Han, 2000; Fu, 2001); Jakarta, Indonesia (Firman, 2000; Goldblum and Wong, 2000; Henderson and Kuncoro, 1996; Kaiser, 1999); Manila, Philippines (Kelly, 2003; Bankoff, 1996; Sidel, 1999); Mumbai and Delhi, India (Valerie, 1999); Cairo, Egypt (Sutton and Fahmi, 200 1); and even in London, Paris and New York (Lever, 1997; Short and Kim, 1999; Tickell, 1998).. However, the impact of dynamic government polices on urbanisation and urban agglomeration is most acute in China such as ‘Socialist Economic theory based urban-biased Hukou system during the ‘pre-reform period (Oi, 1993; Naughton, 1996; Zhang and Zhao, 2004; Chan, 1994a, 1996; Gu and Shen, 2003; Sit, 1995; Harrison, 1972; Murphey, 1974; Ma, 1976; Nolan and White, 1984; Prybyla, 1987; Kirkby, 1985; Kang, 1993; Chan, 1994b; Liu, 1999; Ma and Fan, 1994; Buck, 1981; Parish, 1987; Ofer, 1977; Konrad and Szelenyi, 1977; Ronnas and Sjoberg, 1993; Sjoberg, 1999; Kirkby, 1985; Kang, 1993; Chan, 1994b; Solinger, 1999; Lieberthal, 1995; Fallenbuchl, 1977; Zhang and Zhao, 1998; National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2000; Konrad and Szelenyi, 1977; Ofer, 1977, 1980; Musil, 1980; Murray and Szelenyi, 1984), especially in China (Cell, 1979; Orleans, 1982; Whyte, 1983; Ran and Berry, 1989; Ebanks and Cheng, 1990; Yu, 1995; Tang, 1997; Song and Timberlake, 1996; Lin, 1998; Dong and Putt erman, 2000). Later on, ‘post-reform policy also boosted the urbanisation by encouraging the foreign and private investments in megacities (Banister and Taylor, 1989; Shen and Spence, 1995; Shen, 2002; Shen et al., 2006). However, the national or local government is not solely responsible for urbanisation, urban development as well as urban expansion. Then the question is: Who runs the cities? Government interventions or policies in the urban strategic planning for political significance and interest of the elites and bureaucrats are proverbial in the cities of both developed and developing world (Renaud, 1981; Ades and Glaeser, 1995; Moomaw and Shatter, 1996; Henderson and Becker, 2000; Davis and Henderson, 2003). This is why; urban theorists are focusing on urban politics rather than on economic attributes in formulating state policies for urban development (Sites, 1997; Cockburn, 1977; Castells, 1979; Stone, 1993; 1998). Nevertheless, the influence of urban politics in urban planning priorities in different parts of the world is very complicated because urban politics are viewed from different perspectives. State-centred perspective argued for key role of government, autonomy of the state or the lo cal state and pre-eminence of political attributes in strategic planning (Steinmo, 1989; King, 1995; Thornley, 1998; Evans et al., 1985; Gurr and King, 1987), while coalition politics (Stone, 1987, 1989, 1993; Sites, 1997; Elkin, 1987; Harding, 1994; Gurr and King, 1987; Turner, 1992; DiGaetano and Klemanski, 1993; Orren and Skowronek, 1994) argued for public-private partnership for implementing planning strategies because either for the vulnerability of local government in inter-city economic competition or for the division of labour. This is why; various urban theorists (Park and Burgess, 1925; Dahl; 1967; Wirth, 1969; Jacobs; 1969; 1984; Saunders, 1983; Rae, 2004), who tried to entangle urban politics within their own theories, either failed or misinterpret the urban planning practices. The basic controversy of urban politics lies within two distinct definitions of community power (Polsby, 1980; Harding, 1995; Judge, 1995) power within communities and the power of communities (Harding, 1997). The first is concerned with ‘social production and ‘power to while the latter on is with ‘social control and ‘power over (Stone, 1989). ‘Power within communities, also known as ‘urban regime prompts integration or political coalition of civic groups and public institutions (Dowding et al. 1999; Shefter, 1985; Elkin, 1987; Stone and Sanders, 1987; Mollenkopf, 1992; Turner, 1992; Di Gaetano and Klemanski, 1993; Davies 2001, 2003; Stone, 1989, 2002, 2005; Peck and Tickell, 1995) at different levels of intensity and clarity (Stone, 2005) for economic development and physical regeneration or gentrification (Harding, 1997; Elkin, 1987; Stone and Sanders, 1987; Stone, 1989) and urban growth machines (Molotch, 1976, 1990; Logan and Molotch, 1987; Mo lotch and Logan, 1990). On the other hand, ‘power of communities is more concerned about the acting power of the actors rather than coalitions and is defined by elite and pluralist theories. Beyond the community power debate, another significant factor of citys strategic planning is the politics of globalization (Harding, 1997), which strengthens subnational autonomy and declines national importance (Ohmae, 1993). This can be elucidated by evaluating the role of business sectors on the local civic life of US and European cities. For instance, business-sectors of US cities are remarkably organized, who have strong influence on land ownership and land use planning, taxation and revenue distribution, private credit and public borrowing (Stone, 2005), election campaigns of local as well as national political leaders (Elkin, 1987) and resulting in they are within the governing system. Furthermore, the weaker capital investment by local government has persuaded for effective regime (Davis, 2003). Encouraged by the successful history of urban regime in US, Thatcher government took an ambitious initiative to install this US policy within new dimension of urban regeneration partnerships in UK (Berger and Foster, 1982; Boyle, 1985; Ward, 1996; Wolman, 1992) without resolving three questions What will be the role of development coalitions in the city politics as a whole? What types of private-sector act ivities will lead business-sector involvement in the coalitions? How can the activity balance between public and private sector be achieved? (Harding, 1997). Furthermore, some urban scholars attempted to exploit the regime concept in the European contexts (Vicari and Molotch, 1990; Harding, 1994; Kantor et al., 1997; Di Gaetano and Klemanski, 1999; Mossberger and Stoker, 2000; Zhang, 2002). The US policy was not possible to adopt in the UK context because of the powerful role of central government in the urban politics (Thornley, 1998), lack of bargaining power of urban government, reluctance of local business actors in coalitions (Peck and Tickell, 1995; Davis, 2003). This is why; the attempt has been resulted in different collaborative mechanisms, which were explained by different theories such as Rhodes and Marsh (1992) model of policy network analysis by Stoker and Mossberger (1994), integration of regulation and regime theory by Harding (1994) and Lauria (1997). Urban politics in the context of developing countries (e.g. Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) are almost similar to the politics of UK rather stronger role of national government and local government. Either military government or monarch or autocrats reined most of these countries throughout the major portion of their history after independence and they have a close tie with the business elites and bureaucrats. Eventually, the business elites and bureaucrats are influencing the urban policy agendas behind the scene. Nevertheless, the context of socialist China is quite complicated, which can be categorized within pre-reform era (before 1978) and post-reform era (from 1978 till today). Urban politics during the pre-reform period was solely contracted by the national government. After the reform policy, the national government had decentralize their economic and political powers among the local government and influential actors. H owever, the interesting thing is that ‘a clever fox is hiding inside the reform policy by controlling the property ownership, leaving the economic burden to the local government, strongly linking the vertical tie at the government level. Locational economies of production and class segregation The urbanisation of a city can be a consequence of social division of labour and industrial diversification (Harvey, 1973; Henderson, 2002; Scott, 1986; Weber, 1899; Haig, 1927; Allen, 1929; Perrin, 1937; Florence, 1948; Wise, 1949; Lampard, 1955; Hoover and Vernon, 1959; Hall, 1962; Tsuru, 1963; Sjoberg, 1965; Thiry, 1973; Webber, 1984). This can better be conceptualized by considering vertical and horizontal integration and disintegration of production and labor forces. In case of vertical and horizontal disintegration, the industries or firms try to be concentrated within the core region of a city because various economies of scales (Coase, 1937; Holmes, 1986; Richardson, 1972; Scott, 1983; Pye, 1977) and this was obvious at the earier stage of megacities of developed countries such as New York, London and Paris. On the contrary, when the vertical and horizontal integration of firms or products is strong both in spatial and temporal aspects, geographical expansion of city are more likely to be happened because of internal and external economies of scale (Scott, 1980; Brook et al., 1973; Gilmour, 1971; Abernathy et al., 1983; Piore and Sabel, 1984). Moreover, urbanisation in megacities is dependent on the type of products such as gold and diamond in Rio de Janeiro, coffee in Sà £o Paulo, manufacturing industries in Seoul, tertiary activities in London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo (Duranton and Puga, 2001; Waley, 2009; Mukherjee, 1990; Banerjee, 1985; Glaeser et al., 1995; Lee and Kang, 1989; Lee et al., 2007; Godfrey, 1999). Locational preference Most of the megacities are located at the coastal areas[1] because of their strategic geographical location which offer the advantages of trade, communication, and living environment (Godfrey, 1995; Vance 1990). Presently, 60 percent (nearly 3 billion people) or half of the worlds population lives within 100 km or 60km of the shoreline respectively (Yeung, 2001; Hinrichsen, 1990) and it is estimated that this population will be doubled within the upcoming 30 years among which coastal megacities will contribute the lion share of population (Li, 2003). Furthermore, the number of coastal megacities will be increased to 36 from the existing 16 at the year of 2015 of them 30 will be in developing countries and 22 will be in Asia (Kullenberg, 1999). Sometimes policy makers prepare the economic development plans giving prime focus on the coastal cities (Yeung and Hu, 1992) because it is comparatively less perilous to promote economic development plans in coastal cities because of its good a nd cheap communication and already established structures and physical infrastructures. On the other hand, capital cities get also locational advantages because of the center of institutions, organizations, information and culture such as Beijing (Yulong and Hamnett, 2002), Metro Manila (Cuervo and Hin, 1998), Delhi, Dhaka, and Jakarta. Colonial influence Most of the megacities were under the different European colonies such as British, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Historically, European colonials developed these megacities for their defensive and trade functions. For example, apprehension about French incursions, the Portuguese founded Rio de Janeiro in 1565 (Godfrey, 1999); before Spanish era (1521-1898), Manila was the entry-port of Chinese, Indians and Arabian merchants (Cuervo and Hin, 1998); Bombay, Calcutta and Madras are trade oriented port cities due to British colonial legacy; New York was used as commercial center by the Portuguese colonial. Land speculation and real estate development Land conversion is a normal part of urban development in both developed and developing world (Pierce, 1981; Lockeretz, 1989; Tsai, 1993; Winoto, 1996; Kustiwan, 1997; Yeh and Li, 1999; Grigg, 1995). Nevertheless, land speculation by real estate developers has been observed at an alarming rate in Mexico City, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Metro Manila and megacities of developing countries (Deng, et al., 2008; Arcadis Euroconsult, 1999; Leaf, 1991, 1993; Akbar and Subroto, 1999; Firman, 2000; Bouteiller and Fouquier, 1995; Goldblum and Wong, 2000). Spatial pattern of urbanisation in megacities Megacities had grown to become primate cities at the earlier stage of urbanisation (Parai and Dutt, 1994; McGee and Greenberg, 1992). Megacities now present more polycentric spatial expansion of urban centers and sub-centers following a network pattern that tends to sprawl along major highways and/or railroad lines radiating out from the urban core (Aguilar and Ward, 2003). However, megacities have passed over four stages of urbanisation urbanisation, suburbanisation, counterurbanisation and reurbanisation (Champion, 2001; Van der Berg et al., 1982; Klaassen et al., 1981; Schweitzer and Steinbrink, 1998) ‘cyclic model. In case of ‘urban centre hierarchy, the consecutive phases of urbanisation can be illustrated as a diffusive wave of differential urbanisation (Pacione, 2001; Geyer and Kontuly, 1993) ( 5). The first phase (U) explains the concentration of population in the central city due to rapid rural-urban migration, while the second phase (S) shows an increasing population at its urban periphery and decreasing population at the central city. Third phase (D) shows decreasing of population both in central city and urban periphery and the final stage shows increasing of population at both locations. The first phase (U) explains increasing population in Primary city and intermediate city but decreasing population in the small cities. In the second phase of counterurbanisation (C), reversal situation of first phase is happening after a certain time. In the final, changing rate of net migration is falling down in case of all size of cities. However, the population of primary city will continue to growth for a certain time thereafter it will fall. On the other hand, the population of intermediate city will reach to the optimum level while population of small cities are still growing. Megacities in Latin America Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Sà £o Paulo are in suburbanisation stage because of the continuation of heavy concentration of production activities and population in the urban core and expanding towards sub-urban areas or fringe areas (Farà ­a 1989; Sassen 1994; Pereira 1967; Caldeira 1996; Aguilar and Ward, 2003; Gwynne, 1985; UNCHS, 1996; Aguilar, 1999a and 1999b; Campolina 1994; Parnreiter, 2002; Ward, 1998; Vance, 1990). There is different argument about the urbanisation stage of Latin American megacities such as Townroe and Keene (1984) and Gilbert (1993) claim that megacities of Latin America are in counterurbanisation stage as the secondary city growth is underway with a polycentric urban form suggestive of polarization reversal with the growth of intermediate sized cities leading to a more balanced national urban structure. Megacities of Southeast Asian are also in suburbanisation stage because of the fusion of urban and rural functions that is a mix of rural and urban activities in peri-urban areas and known as extended metropolitan region (desakota) (Gingsburg et al., 1991; McGee and Robinson, 1995; Firman, 1996; Forbes, 1997; Murakami et al., 2005). However, Beijing is still quite monocentric, and its CBD continues to contain a large share of the metropolitan areas total employment, largely because of the centrality of various urban amenities, and because of the concentration of government activities in Beijing (Zheng and Kahn, 2008). On the other hand, other megacities of China Shanghai and Guangzhou are shifting their urban spatial pattern from monocentric form to polycentric form. Lagos of Nigeria is still in urbanisation stage and there are no evidence of meta-urban or peri-urban development (Briggs and Mwamfupe, 2000; Yeboah, 2000) rather city growth is contained within clearly defined boundaries. Megacities in Western Europe and United States are the stage of reurbanisation (Antrop, 2000, 2004) such as Paris (Sallez and Burgi, 2004; Cavailhes et al., 2004), New York (Godfrey, 1995; Preston and McLafferty, 1993), and London (Bendixson, 2004). 5. Research Timeframe for initial 9 months Activity schedule Time Frame Oct- 09 Nov- 09 Dec- 09 Jan- 10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10 June-10 Conceptualization Discussion on the context, key features and material sources of the research Chapter 1: Theoretical framework on the contextual terminologies on urbanisation and agglomeration Chapter 1: Fixation of aims and objectives, and development of methodology and research structure Preparation and presentation of 100-days viva Chapter 2: (objective 1) Literature review Chapter 3: (objective 2) Literature review 6. Research Timeframe for 3 years Activity schedule Time Frame 2009 2010 2011 2012 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Conceptualization Discussion on the context, key features and material sources of the research Literature Review stage Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Empirical stage Sample size formulation Primary data collection Secondary data collection Data verification, editing and input Chapter 6: Methodology Chapter 7: Data analysis Chapter 8: Objective 5 and 6 Evaluation and conclusion Chapter 9: Findings Chapter 10: Recommendations and Implementation guidelines Chapter 11: Conclusion Final presentation and submission 7. References Abernathy, W. J., Clark, K. B., and Kantrow, A. M. (1983). Industrial renaissance: Producing a competitive future for America. New York: Basic Books. Abramovitz, M. (1989). Thinking about Growth: And Other Essays on Economic Growth and Welfare. New York: Cambridge University Press. Ades, A. F., and E. L. Glaeser. (1995). â€Å"Trade and Circuses: Explaining Urban Giants,† Quarterly Journal of Economics 110, 195-227. Aguilar, A G (1999a). â€Å"Mexico City growth and regional dispersal: the expansion of largest cities and new spatial forms,† Habitat International 23(3), 391-412. Aguilar, A G (1999b). â€Å"La Ciudad de Me ´xico en la Region Centro. Nuevas Formas de la Expansio ´n Metropolitana†. In: Transiciones. La Nueva Formacio ´n Territorial de la Ciudad de Mà ©xico, (eds.) J. Delgado and B. RamÄ ±Ã‚ ´rez, pp. 147-169. Programa de Investigacion Metropolitana-UAM, Plaza y Valdez, Mexico. Aguilar, A. G., and Ward, P. M. (2003). â€Å"Globalization, regional development, and mega-city expansion in Latin America: analyzing Mexico citys peri-urban hinterland,† Cities 20 (1), 3-21. Akbar, D. B., and Subroto B., 1999. â€Å"Northern bandung area development† Unpublished Paper, Department of Regional and City Planning, Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesian. Alonso, W. (1980). â€Å"Five Bell Shapes in Development,† Papers of the Regional Science Associations, 45, 5-16. Antrop, M., (2000). â€Å"Changing patterns in the urbanized countryside of Western Europe,† Landsc. Ecol. 15, 257-270. Antrop, M. (2004). â€Å"Landscape change and the urbanisation process in Europe†. Landscape and Urban Planning, 67, 9-26. Arcadis Euroconsult, 1999. â€Å"Land aquisition and development control† Final Report, National Planning Agency and Land Development Agency, Jakarta. Banerjee, N. (1985). Women Workers in the Unorganized Sector: The Calcutta Experience. Hyderabad: Sangain Books. Banister, J., and Taylor, J. R. (1989). â€Å"China: surplus rural labour and migration,† Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 4(4), 3-20. Bankoff, G. (1996). â€Å"Legacy of the past, promise of

The Effects Of Ufos On People Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Effects of UFO's on People Almost every civilization in history that has kept a written history has recorded the sightings of strange objects and lights in the skies. These objects have been described as glowing wheels, colored balls of light, and disk shaped objects. Today unexplained aerial phenomena are generally referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFO's) or flying saucers. The effects of extra terrestrial sightings can have an adverse effect on people if influenced the wrong way. No solid proof has shown that UFO's are real, but many sightings cannot be proven otherwise. The media, stories, or one's own experience may often influence what one believes. The government once stated that they had captured extra terrestrials. (60 minutes, CBS) On the contrary, most scientists now agree that almost all sightings and stories of extra terrestrials are not authentic. The United States government has records of thousands of UFO sightings since 1948, including photos of alleged UFOs and interviews with people who claim to have seen them. Since UFOs were considered a potential security risk, the report on these sightings was originally classified as secret. (Craig, 917) When the report was later declassified it showed that 90 percent of all UFO sightings could be easily explained. Most of the sightings turned out to be celestial objects, such as stars or bright planets like Venus, or atmospheric events such as auroras or meteors falling through the atmosphere. Many other sightings turned out to be objects such as weather balloons, satellites, aircraft lights, or formations of birds. Often these sightings were accompanied by unusual weather conditions. Only 5.6 percent of these cases were not explained. Testimonies by people are often very inaccurate and dramatized. People have the tendency to explain everything they see, which is not usually completely accurate. The unaided human eye can be tricked into hallucination and has an inaccurate depth perception. Reflections from windows and eyeglasses can provide an optical illusion of a UFO. Radar is much more reliable to identify objects, but it cannot detect many characteristics that separate natural phenomena and physical objects. Radar often picks up ionized gas, rain, or thermal discontinuities. Electronic inter... ...s visiting Earth from somewhere out in space, it is safe to say that humans are alone in their home planet. It is possible that this theorem will be proved wrong in the future, but until then all any person can do is guess, hope, and wait. What the future holds for Earth may not be what is expected, but until then scientists will be examining all the evidence to help provide a better future for the home to life as we now know it. Works Cited "Unidentified Flying Objects" World Book Encyclopedia, 1992. Page 19, volume U- V, 1992 Craig, Pat. "On Nevada's Extra Terrestrial Highway." Tribune News Service August 19, 1996: Page 819 from InfoTrack/Super Tom+. On CD-ROM. Foster City, CA: Information access, 1997 "Unidentified Flying Objects" Groiler's Encyclopedia, 1994. Page 17, volume U-V, 1994 Woolard, John. "UFO Investigators Scoff at Abduction Claims." Tribune News Service, September 12, 1996. Page 912 from InfoTrack/Super Tom+. On CD-ROM. Foster City, CA: Information Access, 1997 60 Minutes, CBS Television Network. April 4, 1997 Heaven's Gate Home Page, http://www.aeok.com/heavensgate/index.htm Steve Edwards, 1

National Debt and Budget :: Argumentative Economy Economics Papers

National Debt and Budget For twenty-six years in a row our nation has been under deficit spending, with only one balanced budget since 1961. The Nixon administration had the last balanced budget with a $3 billion surplus in the fiscal year of 1969. With all these years of deficit spending the National Debt has grown to over $4.9 billion. Our government needs to stop overspending and start reducing the amount on the debt. We are putting the Debt on a generation that doesn't get to vote. We are spending money now that will they have to repay at higher taxes. This is wrong. (http://www2.csn.net/~tshellen/speech.html) One of the best ways we can give our government the power to get and to keep the budget in balance is to ammend the Constitution. There are three basic ways to getting the budget balanced: raise taxes, cutspending or a combination of both. There are two basic rules in applying this policy: 1-eliminate all the waste, fraud, pork, and abuse, 2-we all have to share in the sacrifice of spending cuts. No special interest groups can be exempt. (http.texas.net/users/andyn/deficit/zdpview.html) It is estimated by the year 2000 the Debt will reach $456 billion. Congress ahs enacted legislation along the general outlines of president Clinton's economic plan, without the economic stimulus spending he proposed. As a result the projected debt is forecast to be $251 billion.(http://www.texas.net/users/andyn/deficit/zdpview.html) Now the governmant has shut down all non-essential services in an attempt to "hard nose" a budget through the senate and congress. This isn't the first time the gov't has been shut down. It happened in Nov. 1981 when Reagan vetoed an emergency money bill, again in Oct.

Language and Identity in Richard Wright’s Black Boy :: Richard Wright’s Black Boy

Language and Identity in Richard Wright’s Black Boy Richard Wright portrays the many aspects of social acceptance and the use of language as a key to identity throughout the novel. He brings the pages to life by using sufficient elements to enhance his writing. Through these displays of rhetorical techniques, the appeal to the reader is dramatically increased which results in a more personal and overall significant meaning to the book Black Boy. The claim of social acceptance is especially evident throughout chapter ten. For example, ?I had no association with them; the religious home in which I lived, my mush-lard gravy poverty had cut me off from the normal processes of the lives of black boys my own age?. (219) The strongest tool used in this passage is that of point of view. Delivering such depth in his own personal emotion, Wright is able to more effectively present evidence. This appeal demonstrates emotional ethos, a technique to capture and somewhat influence readers? opinions. In addition, ?My throat grew tight with anger. I wanted to rush into the room and demand an explanation, but I held still.?(219) His style of writing has an effect so captivating with emotion and with great detailed imagery; it adds dramatic effect to the storyline. Wright?s clever tactics of using personal experience as evidence gives him a unique credibility based on emotion instead of the typical factual driven emphasis. The influence of language as a key to identity is present in the passage on page 229. Wright?s abundant use of derogatory terms which describe him in dialogue supports his diction and tone. Wright uses such degrading profanity as a way to qualify and support his justifications of racial inequality. The white man?s cruel interpretations include that of: ?nigger, bastard, and sonofabitch.? Using such drastic and explicit words to describe black men convey Wright?s claim of fact. This develops a strong thesis and creates motivated assumptions. A strong use of repetition is present which also reinforces the attitudes of the white man.

Theories of Foreign Direct Investment

Theories of Foreign Direct Investment Foreign Direct Investment, or FDI, is a type of investment that involves the injection of foreign funds into an enterprise that operates in a different country of origin from the investor. Foreign direct investment has many forms. Broadly, foreign direct investment includes â€Å"mergers and acquisitions, building new facilities, reinvesting profits earned from overseas operations and intracompany loans†. Foreign direct investment incentives may take the following forms: †¢ low  corporate tax  and individual  income tax  rates †¢ tax holidays †¢ other types of tax concessions preferential  tariffs †¢ special economic zones †¢ EPZ  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Export Processing Zones †¢ Bonded Warehouses †¢ Maquiladoras †¢ investment financial subsidies †¢ soft loan  or loan guarantees †¢ free land or land subsidies †¢ relocation & expatriation †¢ infrastructure subsidies †¢ R&D sup port †¢ derogation from regulations Once firms have decided to enter a foreign market, they have to choose the best mode of entry. Firms can use six different modes to enter foreign markets: 1. Exporting, being a temporary strategy is like a stepping stone in the international expansion process for most firms.In the past, Seagate was a well know example which concentrated its manufacturing operations in one location enables it to move down the experience curve and achieve location economies. 2. Turnkey projects, are popular because firms can continue with normal business operations while the contractor handle the time consuming and resource intensive projects for a foreign client. Singapore shipyard is reputable for handling sophisticated turnkey projects regardless of is complex requirements and other considerations.This industry is well known in the economic development for the last 40 years and will continue to play the critical role in our economy in order to achieve the go al for Singapore to become a leading international maritime link. Another example would be Sitra Holdings (International) Limited, the international producer of integrated wood based products and turnkey services, secured several turnkey design and build contracts in November 2009. Amongst these contracts, the single largest contract is worth S$3. 24 million at the Marina Bay precinct. 3.Licensing, enables a firm to gain access into new markets otherwise inaccessible, hence to facilitate the growth of licensing activities in Singapore with additional focus on brand licensing, character licensing and know-how licensing, the Franchising and Licensing Association (FLA) aims to encourage the adoption of licensing as a growth strategy by producing a report to raise the awareness of how licensing can translate to income stream for companies. 4. Franchising, in Singapore has grown tremendously and is a preferred strategy for SMEs, as it involves minimal investment and staff, thus reducing costs.Local entrepreneurs have successfully made their mark internationally through franchising like BreadTalk, Charles & Keith, and OSIM. Larger companies can also make use of the networks of their established franchise partners to grow globally. 5. Joint ventures enable firms to share the benefit of the work process from a local subsidiary's knowledge of the host country such as the competitors, culture, political and business systems and access to greater resources including staff specialized in technology, finance, and so on.In November 2009, QATARQatar Petroleum International (QPI) and Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd have sealed agreements in which QPI takes stakes in two Shell Chemicals joint ventures in Singapore. The deal, to be completed in December, Shell will sell its existing shareholdings in two companies to a new joint venture called QPI and Shell Petrochemicals (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 6.Establishing new wholly owned subsidiaries would be best adopted by firms pursuing th e global and transnational strategies, for instance, Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited invested approximately S$900 million in Fraser & Neave Limited (â€Å"F&N†) through its wholly-owned subsidiary Seletar Investments Pte Ltd1 in December 2006. The investment would represent approximately 15 % of the total shares outstanding of F on a fully-diluted basis. This investment marks Temasek's most substantial investment in the food and beverage space in recent years.Temasek Holdings Limited (2006)   Country Focus – political economy and cultural factors of Singapore Political and economic systems of Singapore The Government of Singapore (GOS) is substantially consigned to maintaining an open economy and taking a leadership role strategize Singapore's future economic development. The government does that by adopting a free enterprise, open door policy to attract foreign investors from all types of services sector involving finance, business, tourism, telecommunication and consultancy services.As such, Singapore has exports hitting 186% of 2008 GDP. While Singapore's stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 23. 4% from $370. 5 billion in 2006 to $457. 0 billion in 2007. United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Japan were the top sources of FDI in Singapore. Evidently, the high FDI index reflects Singapore's role as a manufacturing base for foreign multinationals (MNCs) and as a financial, transportation, logistics, and trading hub. Also, with high real growth rate and low inflation played a great role in shaping the Singapore economy.Singapore is one of the most enterprising and dynamic economies in the world. In this section, we compare Singapore's recent trade performance with its performance in past crises, namely the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis where many countries and industries were affected by the deep fall of exports during the recession and the 2001-2002 Dot-Com Bust where IT industries around the world were affected by the large scale cancellation of electronic orders due to the over-investments by IT firms. In 2008 till present, Singapore is experiencing a slow down in the economy due to the US subprime crisis.The main issue is that the US Subprime Market is generating an extension of recessions in some economies and accelerating global recession in a way. Thus, Singapore's total output of the country has decreased and the export of electronics goods has reduced significantly. Background to Singapore's FDI strategy Singapore's assertive efforts to attain FDI for more support of its economic strategy have enabled the country to develop into a basis for multinational corporations (MNCs). Singapore's investment promotion agency, the EconomicDevelopment Board (EDB), focuses on obtaining major investments in highly valued services and/or manufacturing activities, deepening its industrial and export structure, using selective interventions to capture cross-industry externalities and move away from labour intensive to capital-skill and technology-intensive activities, by acquiring and upgrading the modern technologies in highly internalized forms. From Ijaz Nabi and Manjula Luthria. (2002). This strategy allowed the country to concentrate in specific phases in the production process, depriving from the flow of innovation and investing lesser in its own innovative effort.Singapore's FDI policies were based on liberal entry and ownership conditions, easy access to expatriate skills and generous incentives for the activities that it was seeking to promote. The EDB was mainly set up to synchronize policy, offer incentives to lead foreign investors into targeted activities, acquire and construct industrial estates to attract MNCs. The public sector played an important role in launching and promoting activities selected by the government, acting as a catalyst to private investment or entering areas.Often it was the efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility of government response tha t gave Singapore the edge over competing host countries. The importance of inward FDI to Singapore FDI has played a crucial role through the years in accelerating the economic development in Singapore. Being a small country with no natural resources, Singapore had depended on leading international companies not only in bringing in capital funds to broaden her economic base, but also in upgrading the technology and skill content of her industries.Since FDI is one way that Singapore can tap foreign technology, therefore a substantial amount of capital is required to help generate GDP. Furthermore, exchange rate will also play a role in determining GDP. A slow appreciation of the currency will increase the confidence of those who are investing in Singapore and help to attract more investment. The Singapore dollar appreciation will also curb imported inflation. The importance of FDI in Singapore is reflected in the country's ratio of inward FDI stock to GDP: at 72%, the ratio is the hig hest in the world.From Wendy Dobson & Chia Siow Yue (1997). That importance is also reflected in the fact that 90% of value added in Singapore's electronics industry (remarkable growth in exports and income) is accounted for by foreign investors, and that FDI accounts for fully two-thirds of equity capital in the country's manufacturing sector. From Wendy Dobson & Chia Siow Yue (1997). In addition, Singapore's productivity increased fastest in those industries in which FDI was concentrated. The rank correlation coefficients between increases in value added per worker and increases in FDI share and FDI level were . 2 and . 45. Moreover, because foreign direct investors' profits and outward remittances have tended to move in close tandem with the general performance of Singapore's economy and the health of its balance of payments, while the economic risk taking function is also borne by those investors, time and again Singapore's exceptional reliance on FDI has effectively cushioned i ts economy from the balance of payments and debt crises that have hurt many other developing economies. David M, Marchick & Matthew J. Slaughter (2008) Host Country policiesFDI is attracted to Singapore mainly due to Singapore's favourable investment climate and strategic geographical location. Some other reasons include non-fiscal advantages, Singapore's small domestic market combined with no tariffs on most imports and low corporate tax rates have made Singapore into a popular low-risk high-return FDI destination. In general, corporate taxes, or taxes imposed on corporate income, is an important determinant of MNCs' location decisions, just as individual income tax rates is an important determinant of where a person decides to work and live.Theoretically, other things equal, MNCs would prefer countries with lower corporate tax rates over countries with higher rates. Furthermore, a wide range of new incentives have been added over the years to promote FDI inflows. Burdensome regula tions and performance requirements for FDI can offset a generous package of tax incentives. However, in Singapore's case, the restrictions and regulations governing both the entry and operation of foreign enterprises and personnel are minimal.Overall, foreign investors are subject to the same government regulations as local investors, and both have a lot of freedom in pursuing their profit objectives. In addition to the general absence of performance requirements, Singapore has also signed a large number of avoidance of double taxation agreements, which mutually protect countries for a specific time against war and non-commercial risks of expropriation and nationalization.The four areas of Singapore's government regulations in different areas relevant to foreign investors are the foreign exchange regime, equity ownership, performance requirements and human resources. First, the foreign exchange regime is highly liberal and freely allows repatriation of capital and remittance of prof its, dividends, interests, royalty payments and technical licensing fees, as well as the free importation of goods and services for consumption, investment and production purposes.Second, foreign participation is permitted in most sectors of the economy except for some limitations in the monetary sector, areas of trained and skilled personnel. However, 100% foreign equity ownership is readily permitted. Third, there are no performance requirements for foreign investors such as domestic value-added content and local sourcing of inputs, no restrictions on borrowing from the domestic capital market, and no regulations and restrictions governing the transfer of technology.Fourth, there are only minimal restrictions on the recruitment of foreign personnel; employment passes are required but the government issues these quite liberally. However, the government does encourage foreign companies to hire local managerial and technical personnel. Singapore's non-fiscal advantages for foreign in vestors include strategic location, physical and financial infrastructure, human resources, political and social stability, good governance and a foreign investment policy that is liberal, comprehensive and well co-ordinated.Singapore's location astride major sea and air routes and in the heart of Southeast Asia – an economically dynamic region rich in natural resources – gives it a significant locational advantage in trade and investment. Singapore's highly liberal trade regime has further reinforced its natural locational advantage and turned it into Southeast Asia's undisputed trade hub, which, in turn, facilitates the export and import activities of foreign firms locating in Singapore.In addition, Singapore's time zone advantage, straddling East Asia and Western Europe, enables its financial markets and institutions to perform transactions with Japan, Europe and the US within its working hours. Singapore had reinforced and exploited its strategic geographical locat ion through large investments in physical infrastructure. Comprehensive air and sea transport and telecommunications link the city-state with the rest of the world.The domestic land transportation network is also well-developed and efficiently connects the airport and sea port to the business and financial districts. Singapore's airport and sea port are world-class facilities that are consistently ranked as among the best in the world. Its advanced telecommunications infrastructure facilitates business transactions with the outside world. Singapore has achieved world-class status in information and communications technology (ICT), while the government has ensured a reliable supply of power and water.Charles Oman (2000)   Industrial estates, business parks and science parks provide ready access to land and factory/office space and industrial, commercial and research facilities and amenities -reduces the capital investment requirements of foreign investors, enables quick start-ups, and promotes external economies of industrial clustering. Singapore is a major Asia-Pacific financial centre, and its well-developed financial markets, large inflows of capital, and abundance of national savings all contribute to the low cost of capital. Charles Oman (2000) .The government's human resource policy focuses on improving the productivity of the labour force through education and training. Singapore has adopted one of the most liberal immigration regimes in the world in order to expand its quantity as well as enhancing its quality. In terms of education, the government emphasizes technical and vocational education below tertiary level to provide a growing pool of technically competent workers, along with rapid expansion of engineering, business and computer science education at the tertiary level.Women were also encouraged to enter the workforce in a bid to boost the female labour force participation rate. Another major selling point of Singapore for foreign investors is its well-known socio-political stability and good governance. Its political background is well-secured and there is no history of incidents concerning politically motivated damage to foreign investments in Singapore. Not to mention that Singapore ranks as one of the least corrupt country in the world. Singapore has, and dynamically enforced, strong and solid anti-corruption laws.Political stability and an honest and effective political leadership and government have always been key elements in Singapore's favourable business environment. A pro-business government policy environment and high-quality civil service complements Singapore's excellent infrastructure and public capital. A remuneration system of paying relatively high salaries to civil servants attracts a constant stream of talented individuals to work for the government. World-class infrastructure and world-class government combine to offer a highly favourable environment for doing business.Singapore is consistently ranke d among the most competitive countries in the world terms of providing a sound business environment. According to the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2005 by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), which ranks nations' business environments by analyzing their ability to provide an environment in which enterprises can compete effectively, in 2005 Singapore ranked 3rd among the sample of 60 major industrialized and emerging economies.The FDI has increased and better enhanced the quality of Singapore's entrepreneurial, managerial, marketing, technological and manpower resources. FDI had significantly contributed to higher exports and economic growth. However, further investigation also suggests that continuing large inflows of FDI may not be fully absorbed by the economy due to the scarcity of land and shortage of labour. This may lead to crowding out of domestic entrepreneurs.In order to overcome this problem, more domestic entrepreneurs are needed to emerge and invest ou tward so as to reduce the reliance on FDI. The outcomes of Singapore's strategies at attracting inward FDI Recent FDI Since 2003, one of the most active sectors in attracting FDI is the chemical sector. Through its subsidiary Faci Asia Pacific Private Ltd. , Faci SpA, has invested approximately US$5 million in a second metal stearate plant on Jurong Island, Singapore's chemical complex.And in 2006, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has developed a special relationship with the country, opening a number of ventures, with its investment in an antibiotics plant in the Tuas Biomedical Park. Not to mention, the Integrated Resorts have unnoticeably boost the foreign investments scene in Singapore and the many efforts made by the government to attract and sustain FDI such as, the revamping of Orchard Road for reportedly $40 million and establishing of the Circle line to facilitate travelling which completes just in time for the Youth Olympic games in 2010.Conclusion For Singapore to attract and sustai n FDI in all aspects, the structure that supports innovative activities must be further reinforced such as increasing research ability in public and private sectors, the availability of skilled human resources, policies to strengthen R&D infrastructure and so on, so as to foster innovation and local development. Although Singapore's education system and its no tariffs on most imports and low corporate rates are its main elements of attraction, there is always room for improvement.Summing up, the study of the strategies adopted by Singapore to attract inward FDI, the challenges that occurred, results and future directions were critically analyzed and supported with references and findings. Although Singapore is a very attractive destination of FDI, it still has a few areas where improvements can be made in order to maximise economic growth, profits and strategic development.So long as Singapore keep up with trends in the shift towards services, develop cross cultural literacy to avoi d being ill informed, sustain its competitive advantage, ensure accessibility of government information to foreign investors and continue to invest in the up and coming, biotechnology industries, it will continue to prosper. REFERENCES: Ijaz Nabi and Manjula Luthria. (2002) Building competitive firms, incentives and capabilities, Washington, DC, The World Bank.Wendy Dobson & Chia Siow Yue (1997) Multinationals and east Asian integration, Canada & Singapore, International Development Research Centre. David M, Marchick & Matthew J. Slaughter (2008) Global FDI Policy, correcting a protectionist drift, USA, Council on foreign relations. Temasek Holdings Limited (2006) announces investments in Fraser & Neave Limited URL:http://www. temasekholdings. com. sg/media_centre_news_releases_081206. htm Charles Oman (2000) Development centre studies, Policy competition for foreign direct investment, A study of competition among governments to attract FDI, USA, OECD.Abraham A. Azubuike. (2006) Acc essibility of Government Information as a Determinant of Inward Foreign Direct Investment in Africa, ECA Library, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia URL:http://ifla. queenslibrary. org/IV/ifla72/papers/100-Azubuike-en. pdf SPRING, franchising and licensing association (Singapore). URL:http://www. spring. gov. sg/EnterpriseIndustry/LEAD/Pages/lead-fla. aspx WINDS, Multilateral Agreement on Investment, URL:http://www. apfn. org/THEWINDS/archive/economy/mai11-97. html