...Public Disclosure Authorized WPS5572 Policy Research Working Paper 5572 Public Disclosure Authorized What Drives the Development of the Insurance Sector? An Empirical Analysis Based on a Panel of Developed and Developing Countries Erik Feyen Rodney Lester Roberto Rocha Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Financial and Private Sector Development Finance and Policy Units February 2011 Policy Research Working Paper 5572 Abstract The insurance sector can play a critical role in financial and economic development. By reducing uncertainty and the impact of large losses, the sector can encourage new investments, innovation, and competition. As financial intermediaries with long investment horizons, insurance companies can contribute to the provision of long-term instruments to finance corporate investment and housing. There is evidence of a causal relationship between insurance sector development and economic growth. However, there have been few studies examining the factors that drive the development of the insurance industry. This paper contributes to the literature by examining the determinants of insurance premiums (both life and non-life premiums) and total assets for a panel of about 90 countries during the period 2000-08. The results show that life sector premiums are driven by per capita income, population size and density, demographic structures, income distribution, the size of the public pension system, state...
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...Seacoast Science Center (SSC) Class Preparation Questions/Activities Perform a General/Marco Environmental Analysis as it relates to SSC. P-The New Hampshire Parks Department and IBM give grant money annually to the Seacoast science Center. E-As the internet grows and the amount of money will spend on luxury activities dwindles , the Seacoast science center must deal with declining numbers of museum goers. S-Science related attractions have recently been declining in interest amongst the general population as sports and ambiguous entertainment grow . T-A lot of research has been done and seems to be plateauing , plus there is only so much money that states and lenders will give to update technology that only analyzes science not just progression in it. E-The science center seems to not be leaving that big of a carbon footprint. L-The increasing sea level is beginning to remove some of the nearby beach from the center’s property. Not many regulations have been put on the science center. Perform a Porter’s 5 Forces Industry Analysis as it relates to SSC. (Note: The amount of information you have about the different forces varies tremendously. Also, many not-for-profits like SSC have two customer groups, as Visitors and Donors can both be considered customers. Take this into account as you do your analysis.) Threat of New Entrants: (Low) The seacoast Science center is specific to the region of new hampshire. Anything within a 50 mile radius...
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...support and progress past some deeply imbedded issues. Today in the United States, we are at the center of attention for a social movement that is quite literally, a physical movement. Illegal immigration from Mexico and South American countries continues to be one of the most controversial and debated matters of public policy. The United States allows for an annual limit of roughly 675,0001 immigrants to legally enter our borders, which is extremely conservative relative to other countries. This very limited number forces the majority of immigrants from south of the border to either enter completely illegally, or overstay a temporary work visa issued by our government. While dealing with these illegal aliens serves to be a contentious problem by itself, an even more pressing issue rises to the surface when debating the rights of their children. Thomas Humphrey Marshall described the evolution of citizenship from civil, to political, and finally to social. This idea of social citizenship explained the governmental rights that citizens were guaranteed, “to live the life of a civilized being.”2 The two institutions “most closely connected with it are the educational system and social services.”2 Although speaking about Great Britain in the 18th, 19th, and 20th century, Marshall’s points on citizenship, specifically with regards to what he calls social citizenship, are very relevant to the children of illegal immigrants in the United States today. There is very little debate that...
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...University and Joe Foudy Short Answer Section (3 pts. each) Answer each question directly and concisely. 1. In a sentence or two, explain what is driving the creation of more markets where superstars win out over everyone else (Hint: from article “Why workers are Losing the War Against Machines”). Any answer that involved technology was fine for us. 2. In the article, “Productivity and Growth: What was that?”, the Economist Robert Gordon predicts future productivity will be held back by 6 headwinds. Name three of them. ------------------------------------------------- aging, ------------------------------------------------- debt repayment, ------------------------------------------------- a broken education system, ------------------------------------------------- global labour arbitrage, ------------------------------------------------- inequality, and...
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...the cut in government funding the prior policy of class size reduction was taken back after 1997 suggests that the government is reluctant to commit to funs for improving the quality of education. I agree with the authors view highlighting the government reluctance, as I would think because of the changes in society and globalization this should result in the government looking into more quality education for children and I think that teacher to student ratio plays a big part in students receiving more quality education when there are less children in the class as opposed to 40 students in one class, which is a big number in comparison to other English speaking countries. Basically the class size policy is where there is a reduction of state commitment in education. The reduced commitment comes from an increase in privatization of education and an increase or maintenance of teacher pupil ratio and efficiency reforms such as decentralization. Society Wide mobilization – which means the state, will transfer significant proportion of education expenses to parents Because Hong Kong parents has had less of the educational spending compared to parents of many other parts of the world, the reformers had proposed that the proportion of tuition fee to total costs of post secondary education should be appropriately adjusted. The significant reduction in government expenses is made in reversal of the prior policy of cutting down class size In order to improve teacher:...
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...environment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the perception of Malaysian tax practitioners in giving tax advice to tax clients whether to promote aggressive tax avoidance or to promote tax compliance. It is accordance to the implementation of SAS which had given taxpayers freedom to declare their income and compute their own tax liability. This self-determination in tax assessment had given them the opportunity to manipulate the tax account which resulted to lower or minimum tax paid. Aggressive tax avoidance is a non-compliance behavior by exploiting tax law ambiguity, playing with accounting figures and transactions to reduce tax. Moreover, the SAS had increases the demand of tax practitioners services as most taxpayers especially from the corporate sector feel incompetence and unqualified to file their own tax affairs appropriately. A survey approach is used to obtain information from tax practitioners practicing in public accounting firms in urban towns. Tax practitioners who perceived leniently on the practice of aggressive tax avoidance signify a likelihood of aggressive tax avoidance participation. The finding of this study shows that Malaysian tax practitioners perceived aggressive tax avoidance as unethical behavior. The aggressive tax avoidance practice is contributed by the tax clients’ incomplete documentation and competitive tax environment. However, the results also indicate that tax practitioners are at the state of dilemma...
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...and operating as a leader. For the most part, the external world becomes more complex and uncertain as leaders must become more conscious of the nature of their own interior world, including the varieties of performance management, experiences and resources available to them to meet the difficulties, and often ambiguous demands in more of the balanced and integrated ways. Leadership capabilities will be a key differential in the future, and this will require a new and different emphasis on the leader’s capacity for development. A first term of interpersonal recognizes that each of us as individuals is made up of a multiplicity of selves or states. Therefore, we show up to situations in different ways depending on the context. The second phase to the term of interpersonal references are the principles of collaboration between diverse disciplines across an array of fields, leading towards more integrated and complex levels of understanding among individuals, groups and organizations (Nick Ross 2013). Interpersonal leadership identifies diversity of thought and experience. It enables a person to find common and new ground between existing practices and other, non-traditional learning structures. The interpersonal leadership has both outward and inward movement based on principles of diversity, cooperation, harmony, and integration. As being noted, Kegan and Lahey identifies three key stages in their study of leadership development that...
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...Executive Summary This report provides an analysis and evaluation of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) accounting. Many corporations adopt and follow the novel term, along with the public increasing public concern of social and environmental performances. The research pays attention to the arguments for and against the TBL accounting in corporate accounting reporting. Many companies concur with the significance of concept to reinforce their business, yet others hold the view that TBL is accompanied by diverse debates. The findings of this review show that TBL accounting: • Refers to a good tool of the measurement of accountability and transparency • Provides a beneficial opportunity to obtain the value of a corporate name and the market share in completion • Contributes to the reduction of production cost and the conservation of environment through making use of resources efficiently • Improves corporate management and employee productivity due to the measurement of accountability and transparency • Impacts on a core competency of business and a social situation • Adjusts a methodology to measure social and environmental performances TBL accounting with economic, social, environmental activities has been some negative thus far. However, the arguments against TBL accounting, which are related to core competency, poor societies and measure standard, are still doubtful and cannot address a strong persuasive in opposition to...
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...Introduction Good day,dear friends. Actually, I considered the topic of the presentation for a long time and finally I have chosen inflation in Russia. Inflation, as one of the main macroeconomic issues, is a really urgent problem of today. In some countries the rate of inflation is 5 %.while in others 15%. Today. we will discuss history and modern peculiarities of the Russian inflation. So,here is the plan. Definition Inflation is a sustained increase in overall level of prices, as measured by some broad index (such as Consumer Price Index) over months or years, and mirrored in the correspondingly decreasing purchasing power of a currency.An increase in inflation means an increase in prices. This affects whether or not a consumer is able to afford the higher price. Inflation directly affects the value of the currency because when inflation goes up, the value of a currency goes down, and so does the consumer's purchasing power. Inflation especially affects consumer behavior when wages do not increase to accommodate the increase in prices. As people's inflation perceptions tend to affect their economic behaviour, it is important that they stay close to measured inflation rates the history of inflation in Russia First inflation in Russia was associated with the introduction of paper money or bills. These funds were issued by the decree of the Catherine II. The dominant ideology in the economic environment relative to the coverage of the budget deficit by issuing paper money...
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...ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION Vol. 26, No. 3 2011 pp. 609–618 American Accounting Association DOI: 10.2308/iace-50029 A Series of Revenue Recognition Research Cases Using the Codification R. Mark Alford, Teresa M. DiMattia, Nancy T. Hill, and Kevin T. Stevens ABSTRACT: This series of four short cases is designed to help students develop the skills to research the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification and other authoritative literature. It also is designed to help improve students’ ability to analyze and critique the complex issues that often surround the accounting for revenue recognition. The case scenarios describe transactions in which students must decide whether, when, and how much revenue to recognize. The issues analyzed involve bill-and-hold, multiple-element arrangements, gross versus net revenue reporting, and sales incentives. The cases are also designed to improve teamwork and communication skills. The sequence of cases is intended for use in an intermediate accounting class that covers revenue recognition, or in a capstone class that emphasizes critical thinking and research skills. Keywords: revenue; recognition; codification; research. INTRODUCTION evenue recognition is one of the top causes for financial statement restatements (Whitehouse 2010). In addition, revenue recognition is an area commonly questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff in their review of public filings and resultant comment...
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...This paper will present the classic theories and contemporary arguments circulating the essential elements of societies and from these arguments, construing what elements are most important that could be used to create an ideal society. In order to part away from the religious view that heaven can only exist in the hereafter, we try to establish a scientific explanation of how we as human beings have come to existence through the process of evolution. This theory appeals significantly to us for at least two reasons. First, it gives some of us who aren’t as religious a more satisfying validation of our origin and our destination. This view opposes Max Weber’s description of a Calvinist who always suffers great inner loneliness due to his ambiguous predestined fate. Second, the theory of evolution is in alignment with our positive and pre-established perception of progress and improvement. In his book An Inquiry into the Nature of Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith illustrates in details how to achieve progress and improvement in production through the concept of division of labor. Smith states that the division of labor not only improves how we are manufacturing goods but also creates interdependent relationships among all societal members, professions, and...
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...information to others. Computers enable the efficient processing and storage of information. A grading system plays a key role in the management system of any school. But, such systems do not often relate expectations, outcomes, and performance. As each student’s desires to achieve a good score for each assignment, exam, project and/ or report, the whole process adds heavy work load for teachers in order to make their evaluation fair, comprehensive, and accurate. From the faculty perspective, these are necessary to avoid disagreement from students and parents. A computerized grading system is a highly desirable addition to the educational tool- kit, particularly when it can provide less effort and a more effective and timely outcome. Grading Systems are designed to provide incentives for achievement and assist in identifying problem areas of a student. It is the most commonly used means of analyzing students’ performance, talents and skills. Students’ grades are vital information needed in advancing to the next grade or year and its accuracy is very important. Many teachers feel that time they take in recording and computing for the grades of their students is time that could be better spent elsewhere, like preparing lessons, researching or meeting for their students. With the advent of computer technology, more and more schools are taking advantage of variety of grading systems available both off-line and online that can help save time on administrative tasks and give teachers...
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...Global Business Languages Volume 2 Cultures and Cross-Cultural Awareness in the Professions 5-21-2010 Article 4 Business Negotiations between the Americans and the Japanese Yumi Adachi Weber State University Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl Recommended Citation Adachi, Yumi (1997) "Business Negotiations between the Americans and the Japanese," Global Business Languages: Vol. 2, Article 4. Available at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl/vol2/iss1/4 Copyright © 2010 by Purdue Research Foundation. Global Business Languages is produced by Purdue CIBER. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/gbl Yumi Adachi Weber State University BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE AMERICANS AND THE JAPANESE INTRODUCTION Culture in the business world is not the same as general culture.1 Even native speakers of the language learn business manners and practices, and cooperative culture when they actually engage in a real life setting. It is not sufficient in business for foreigners to understand only the general culture of the target language, since culture and language cannot be separated (King), yet language study by itself is inadequate. Language is constructed with a strong influence exerted by the culture. Indeed, when studying language, it is incumbent upon us to study the culture of the target language (Bloch). Even though culture cannot explain everything (Fallows), and the business world shares a common ground regardless of culture (Bloch), fundamental features of the...
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...Critique of Systematic Review Mary Odenwalder Nur 518 April 7, 2014 Jane Cash Critique of Systematic Review The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all infants breastfeed exclusively until six months old to achieve optimum growth. Despite this recommendation, only one out of every three children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months. This includes countries that have a high rate of breastfeeding initiation. Recent data has shown that the exclusive breastfeeding rates over the last 15 years have only risen about six per cent, from 33% to 39%. Breask milk protects children against childhood illnesses such as gastroenteritis, respiratory tract infections, otitis media, atopic dermatitis, asthma, and SIDS. Studies have also shown that children that are breastfeed have improved cognitive development and decreased risk for childhood obesity (Haroon, Das, Salam, Imdad, & Bhutta, 2013) . A systematic review begins with a specific research question and then the author has a specific method which will be used to find the articles that are relevant for the study. Systematic reviews attempt to remove biases from the process. The research question being answered in this review is regarding breastfeeding promotion inventions and breastfeeding practices. The topic is an appropriate topic for a systematic review because it is broad enough that there are many studies that have been performed, but specific enough to allow for the researchers to...
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...Survey of Information & Communication Technology Utilization in Philippine Public High Schools Preliminary Findings Victoria L. Tinio Director for e-Learning Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development Commissioned by the Center of International Cooperation for Computerization Government of Japan March 2002 1 Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Context and Significance III. Methodology IV. Scope and Limitations V. Findings A. Profile of the schools General information Electrification and telephony B. History and goals of ICT use C. ICT resources and use Student-to-computer and teacher-to-computer ratios Processor types and operating systems Multimedia computers Software Peripherals Local area networks Instructional use of computers Internet access and use Non-instructional use of computers D. Staff development E. Technical support and needs F. Major obstacles to ICT use VI. Conclusions and Recommendations References 3 4 6 8 9 9 9 10 11 12 12 12 14 14 14 15 18 19 21 24 26 30 2 I. Introduction The world we live in today is very different from what it was a century, even a few decades ago. This transformation has been driven in part by rapid technological innovation. While the 19th century saw the rise of the Industrial Revolution, with steampowered machines intensifying and expanding human productive power, the 20th century was characterized by the birth of machine-powered flight and the emergence of broadcasting and computer technologies...
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