A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs Essay Example

A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs Essay A sample of 90 local authorities has been used. Both statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 17 and Excel have been used to determine the level of environmental conservation costs in the studied local authorities. The results indicated that there was a wide use of environmental conservation costs among the local authorities. The study provides preliminary evidence on environmental conservation costs used by local authorities in Kenya. Further research is suggested to explore the possible motivating factors among different local authorities’ degree of application and level of environmental costs in different activities. Keywords: Environmental Conservation; Local authorities; Environmental costs  © 2013 Published by SSBFNET 1. Introduction This paper investigates the environmental conservat? on costs by local authorities in Kenya. Environmental conservation cost refers to the investment and costs measured in monetary values, allocated for prevention, reduction, and or avoidance of environmental impact, removal of such impact, restoration following the occurrences of a disaster and other activities. These are costs borne by companies and organizations for environmental conservation i. e. private costs. The costs do not include costs borne for health damage or environmental pollution suffered by third parties or society as a whole resulting from the business activities of companies and other organizations i. e. social costs. It means the burden placed upon society as a result of the environmental impact of a specific company or other organizations, or of an unspecified entity. We will write a custom essay sample on A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Social cost is also referred to as â€Å"external cost† or â€Å"external discovery† such as damage suffered by a third party or damage caused to forests or agriculture due to environmental impact resulting from the business activities of a company or other organization will not result in a direct economic burden for that company provided that there is no proof of causal relationship but the society as a whole may be considered to have sustained a loss Medley (1997). Environmental conservation cost can be categorized into one, business area costs which are costs for activities to reduce environmental impact which occur within the business area due to key business operations. The business area is the region where the organization can directly manage environmental impacts. Business area cost is associated with environmental conservation is divided into pollution prevention cost, global environmental cost and resource recycling cost. Secondly, administration cost which is the cost for management activities conducted by companies and other organizations for environmental conservation activities. The cost includes the cost for efforts that directly contribute to reducing the environmental impact generated through business activities, and the cost for efforts for communication a Corresponding author. Kilika Samuel, Tel. : +020 086 808. 89 Kilika Mutua /International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Vol 2, No 3, 2013 ISSN: 2147-4486 ith society by companies and other organizations, like the cost for environmental training for employees, cost for environmental improvement activities such as nature conservation, greening, and beautification. Thirdly, environmental remediation costs. These are costs allocated for recovery of the environmental degradation due to business activities like the cost to restore natural environment back to its original state, provision or insurance fees to cover degradation to the environm ent. Fourth, ocial activity cost which is a cost related to environmental conservation conducted for the good of the broad range of society Gulch (2000). This is considered a cost for environmental conservation efforts consisting of social activities with no direct relationship to the business activities of the company or other organizations like cost for environmental activities like planting of greenery, beautification and landscape preservation. Fifth is the RD cost which constitutes spending for research and development activities allocated to environmental conservation. Lastly are the upstream/ downstream costs. Upstream cost is a cost for efforts to reduce the environmental impact that is created prior to the input of goods and services into business areas, as well as the cost related to such efforts i. e. provision of materials for goods and services. Downstream cost is a cost for efforts to reduce the environmental impact that is created after goods and services have been output from business areas, as well as the cost related to such efforts i. e. se and consumption of goods and services Medley (1997). The study seeks to determine environmental costs by local authorities in Kenya. The study acts as an exploratory on environmental accounting forming a basis for further research and illustrate important findings for the groups including the local authorities in Kenya and the stakeholders of local authorities like consumers of their services, business partners, investors, employees of particular local authorities and the residents. The local authorities can be able to establish the benefits they get from environment conservation as well as the costs of undertaking environmental activities, tuture researchers, local government of Kenya as well as other scholars. 2. Literature Review The section presents both theoretical (untested) as well as empirical (tested) literature relevant to the subject of study. Accounting for environmental costs and performance can support a company’s / organization’s development and operation of an overall environmental management system. Understanding the environmental costs and performance of processes and products can promote more accurate costing and pricing of products and can aid organizations in the design of more environmentally preferable processes, products and services for the future. Better management of environmental costs can result in improved environmental performance and significant benefits to human health as well as business success. The disclosure of environmental accounting regarding nvironmental conservation activities of companies and other organizations, including public interest organizations and local public entities, provides a means for stakeholders to understand, evaluate, and give their support to such efforts. Environmental accounting continues to take root as part of the social system. Taking into account, developments in environmental accounting at companies and other organizations, it has the objective of supporting the introduction and implementation of environmental accounting at co mpanies and other organizations. Environmental accounting is also intended to insure that the information disclosed takes into consideration the needs of the various stakeholders. Another objective is to improve the effectiveness of environmental accounting methodology, so that by employing given guidelines in organizing environmental accounting data, companies and other organizations can monitor their data not only for publication, but also further their objective of internal environmental management (Bailey, 1991). The quantitative management of environmental conservation activities is an effective way of achieving and maintaining sound business management. In other words, in carrying out environmental conservation activities, a company or other organizations can accurately identify and measure investments and costs related to environmental conservation activities, and can prepare and analyze this data. By having better insight into the potential benefits of these investments and costs, the company can not only improve the efficiency of its activities, but also utilize environmental accounting as a discipline which plays a very important role in supporting rational decision-making. In addition, companies and other organizations are required to have accountability to stakeholders, such as consumers, business partners, investors, employees, local residents, and administration, when utilizing environmental resources, i. e. public goods, for their business activities. Disclosure of environmental accounting information is a key process in performing accountability. Consequently, environmental accounting helps companies and other organizations boost their public trust and confidence and are associated with receiving a fair assessment (Lehman, 2000). The functions of environmental accounting are divided into internal and external functions. As one step of an organization’s environmental information system, internal function makes it possible to manage environmental conservation cost and analyze the cost of environmental conservation activities versus the benefit obtained, and promotes effective and 90 Kilika Mutua /International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Vol 2, No 3, 2013 ISSN: 2147-4486 fficient environmental conservation activities through suitable decision-making. It is desirable for environmental accounting to function as a business management tool for use by managers and related business units. On the other hand, by disclosing the quantitatively measured results of its environmental conservation activities, external functions allow an organization to influence the decision-making of stakeholders, such as consumers, business partners, investors, local residents, and administration. It is hoped that the publication of environmental accounting results will function both as a means for organizations to fulfill their responsibility for accountability to stakeholders and, simultaneously, as a means for appropriate evaluation of environmental conservation activities (Lehman, 2000). Local authorities in Kenya are the bodies controlling local governance in Kenya. Local Authorities in Kenya are governed by the local government Act cap 265 laws of Kenya. Kenya has 175 local authorities which are categorized into city councils, town councils, municipal councils and county councils. The Act spells out wide ranging powers and functions for local authorities, where most of these functions undertaken by the local authorities relate to provision of public services, promotion of good governance and simulation of good economic growth. The functions and responsibilities cover basic services such as markets, garbage collection, street lighting maintenance, development planning, roads, sewerage, community welfare, slaughterhouses and burial of destitute people. There are also provisions of health to the community through health centers as well as dispensaries. Besides health facilities the council provides housing, schools and recreational facilities and maintenance of parks (Local government Act caps 265 laws of Kenya). Local authorities get their funding from the local authorities transfer fund (LATF) which is a block grant that transfers 5% of the national income to the local authorities. It distribution is ksh 1. 5 million to each of the 175 local authorities in Kenya (per annum). This is 60% in proportion to the total population of each local authority, 40% in proportion to the urban population of each local authority. The second source of funds is road maintenance levy fund (RMLF) which is collected from fuel levy on petroleum products and transit toll collections. The third source of funds is the contribution in lieu of rates (CILOR) which a local tax levied on property like land by the local authority as authorized by the central government . MLG Circular (2009). Mazhindu (2009) in his study on local government processes and the environment in Africa stated that by and large, the conventional planning approaches have either ignored or underestimated the growing environmental concerns. The search for planning responses to the devastating environmental concerns has culminated in the assembly of an ‘environmental tool box’ containing an assortment of instruments notably, po llution control and licensing, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), natural resource management plans and environmental auditing. Most of these instruments are quasi-planning in nature normally deployed to complement the conventional land–use planning tools but largely outside the traditional planning practice. This points out that, in the mainstream planning activities, the emerging environmental management specialisations have increasingly drifted apart theoretically, legally, administratively and in their specific responses to environmental problems. The irony of this compartmentalization is that urban planning largely grew out of the pragmatic concerns for the health of citizens and their social well-being in the wake of the industrializing cities of the nineteenth century. The growing magnitude of the negative environmental concerns impacting sustainable urban development must be redressed by ‘operationalising’ the symbiotic relationships between urban development and environmental management through the application of the relevant planning instruments. In the study by Kapa (2005) on Lesotho’s local government system, he stated that there was need for control of natural resources like sand and stones as well as environmental protection like pollution land/site allocation, water supply and market provision. Indecon (2005) in the review of local government financing in Ireland, stated that environmental protection expenditure was 695. 2 million which was 19. 2% of the total expenditure for 2004 and that water supply and sewerage consumed 450. 6 million which was 12. % of the total expenditure giving evidence that governments are responding to environmental challenges. Local studies on environment accounting have been done. UNDP (2000) on its study on millennium development goals in Kenya stated that the current needs assessment recommended that it would take ksh 97,126,500 to develop and implement a strategy for integrating principles and practices of environmental accounting within and /or alongside the system of national acco unting (SNA) even if on a pilot basis. Ministry of youth affairs (2010) on environmental and social management framework (ESMF) stated that one of the key environmental and social issues in Kenya is health and environment and further explains that most of the urban areas in Kenya are faced by domestic waste and sewage management problems with only 32 out of the 175 local authorities having any form of sewage collection and disposal infrastructure. Nema (2005) in its strategic plan for 2005-2010 stated that there was lack of sewerage system and facilities for 143 out of 175 local authorities which led to increased cases of environmental health problems due to 1 Kilika Mutua /International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Vol 2, No 3, 2013 ISSN: 2147-4486 pollution of the ecosystem by heavy metals and chemicals such as nitrates. Waema and Mitullah (2007) in their study on e-governance in local authorities in Kenya stated that the LAIFOMS is limited to financial management and has only three main components, revenues, bu dgeting and financial management and expenditure, a study that fails to mention environmental accounting issues. According to Kibeti (2004), Environmental costs are obscured in conventional accounts and yet they are real costs that should be accommodated by all firms and industries. Management of the environmental costs will result in improved environment, production and generally wealth of the urban population in the study area. This study would also argue for a clearer policy of the management of extractive industries and any other industry that largely tends to exploit natural resources. This will also contribute to the sustainability of the growth and development of not only the urban regions but also the rural. Being a pioneering study on one of the industries in an urban centre, other studies covering the various industries and regions will be encouraged. It is the ultimate purpose of this study to have other studies expanded to include all firms and sectors in the economy. To arrive at aggregates for the whole economy it is important to begin with the microeconomic production units. In his studies Hassan (1996) stated that in the coming decades, the continued urban population growth and especially the continued growth of the urban poor was expected to immensely challenge global sustainability. As at 2001, there were 43 cities in Africa with populations of more than one million and it is expected to increase to almost 70 by 2015 (UNPD, 2001). Nakuru would be among these cities. More problems of overcrowding, informal settlements, inadequate housing, poor infrastructure etc. are bound to increase. Infrastructural development has been slow in keeping pace with burgeoning needs of the urban population. Since most urban environmental problems result from poor management, poor planning and absence of coherent urban policies (Hassan, 1996); it is important that these dimensions be addressed in all sectors of the urban domain. Another study by Hassan (2003) stated that the conventional national accounting systems, excludes: domestic production; products directly extracted from communal resources for household consumption and not traded in the market, and; benefits from ecological services, cultural, aesthetic, etc. Though GDP included income from extracted resources corresponding value of these assets lost to the economy was omitted. Depletion of natural and human capital was excluded from total national wealth of a nation and hence the measures of economic performance were wrong and misleading. Daly (1996) explained clearly that sustainable development sought to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. In other words, the present generation must leave the air, water and natural resources as pure and unpolluted as when it found it. Strong sustainability clarifies that in the case of renewable resources annual off-take must be kept equal to the annual growth increment while in the case of nonrenewals depletion should be at a rate equal to the development of renewal substitutes. That meant that stock of natural capital should not be reduced below a level that generated sustained yield unless good substitutes were then available. Hassan (2003) stated that sustainable development therefore, had to be financed in such a manner as to compensate for future depletion of exhaustible resources. He gave the example where policies had ensured sustainability from mining in South Africa, where the capital component (CC) was fully reinvested in alternative forms of capital Hassan (2002). According to Dasgupta and Maler, the correct index of checking if development is sustainable is wealth. When accounting prices that reflect trade-offs among present and future well-beings and among contemporaries are used to determine well-being, wealth becomes a good index for showing whether development is sustainable or not. Poverty causes a society to elk out living through adverse exploitation of resources and this is the state of the populations in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) (Dasgupta Maler, 1995). Accounting for externalities has been adopted in the microeconomic level within the firm in hydroelectricity (EPA, 1996), health sector (EPA, 2000), chemical and oil companies (EPA, 1997a) and electroplating operations (EPA, 1997b) among others. The studies sampled, applied various environmental accounting techniques to evaluate environmental costs of economic activities in an industry. The results showed existence of positive environmental costs in all cases with an implication that most economics activities have environmental costs which are yet to be accounted for. Nema (2005), in its report stated that there were challenges that led to unsuitable management practices of ecosystems and their inherent biodiversity. Increased slum settlement in urban areas due to rapid rural-urban migration resulting in environmental problems of overcrowding, poor garbage disposal and environmental diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid. Kisare (1999) in his studies on local government planning and management stated that there were increased environmental pollution and degradations resulting from uncontrolled industrial smoke-emissions, discharge of untreated industrial effluent into rivers, dumping of toxic waste and deforestation of peri-urban woodlands. 2 Kilika Mutua /International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Vol 2, No 3, 2013 ISSN: 2147-4486 In the annual report by the ministry of petroleum, the Egyptian general petroleum corporation(2000) stated that natural resource damages is a new category of environmental liability which had been established in the United States according to a number of regulatory such as the clean water Act and the oil pollution Act. Such resources include flora, fauna, land, air, and water resources. The liability can arise from accidental release as well as lawful release to air, water, and soil. As a result there was a wide range of environmental expenditures such as abatement costs, elimination costs and handling of waste costs just to mention but a few, as well as environmental capital expenditures as a result of buying a new and/ or new cleaner technology. Goals such as environmental costs optimization, better environmental performance, identifying the true (full) costs and identifying the social costs all require knowing the different current and potential costs. However the study further stated that knowing the environmental costs depended upon the organizational purpose for using such data like cost allocation, capital budgeting, product design and all that managerial decisions . he report ends by stating that the domain and scope of applying the costs if sometimes to be vague whether the costs are environmental or not. SETAC (1993) on its report on a multi-disciplinary approach to solving problems of the impact of chemicals and technology in the environment stated that some companies were paying a significant portion of their total environmental costs to clean up pollution caused decades before like remediation costs related to superfund only being incurred by then but pertained of decades before that time. Due to the fact that the corporate environmental expenditures being often substantial, including them in the product costs affected the profitability of the products, facilities and divisions. Many companies according to the report include current operating costs pertaining to past environmental liabilities in their current product costs with the justification ,other expenses that created future benefits were charged to product costs or corporate overhead, including product development,reseach and development, and advertising expenses. Thus, current products benefited from those prior expenditures and the product costs must bear the costs related to prior production, just as it reaps the benefits. Therefore, from the above studies it is apparent that organizations are involved in environmental conservation costs and local authorities in Kenya are such kind of organizations that have both direct and indirect interactions with the immediate environment, thus, local authorities must incur environmental conservation costs. The studies point out that there is need to find out the various environmental conservation costs local authorities in Kenya go through. 2. 1 Accounting Theory The accounting theory has evolved through a long passage of time during which substantial changes in human behavior and market structures have taken place. The theory outlines how accountants have identified certain broad assumptions on which financial results of a business are prepared . These assumptions are called accounting concepts which define the rules under which financial statements of an entity should be prepared. The theory brings out boundary rules like entity, periodicity and going concern concepts to determine what should and should not be reported. Once the boundary is set, it should then determine how the accounting data should be recorded i. e. money measurement, historical cost, realization accruals, matching, duality and materiality. The theory limits the room for individual maneuvers, a number of ethical rules like prudence, consistence and objectivity have evolved, which suggest that there is a moral dimension in financial reporting. . 1. 1 Green budgeting theory (in Environmental accounting in local government) It is by initiative of the local Agenda 21 (LA21), after the Rio summit (1992) and the Johannesburg summit (2002) that schemes of environmental accounting at sub-national levels of government started to be developed: a bottom-up approach. , source of a large diversity of initiatives, in contrast to the top-down approach followed by nationals statistics offices coordinated, i n addition, by supranational organizations such as the United Nations and Eurostat. Amidst the consequent fragmentation of local experiences, the only exception is the EcoBudget scheme, promoted by the International Council for Environmental Initiative (ICLEI), which has been implemented in more or less the same form by a few local governments in several countries. Its basic idea is to implement a budgeting system for natural resources that conforms to the community financial budgeting: the current institutions and procedures must provide the model for the budgeting of natural resources. It s based on environmental indicators and as such it does not aim to provide a monetary evaluation of the environment, or to maintain long term, detailed and systematic accounts to be used in policy design and programming. Rather, its purpose is to help monitoring the effectiveness of local governments in achieving the set targets in matter of environmental policy, and communicating objectives, achievements or failures between policy makers and citizens. In principle, the objective could be more ambitious: inserting environmental issues on the political agenda not in an ad hoc manner but rather as systematic reporting to the 3 Kilika Mutua /International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Vol 2, No 3, 2013 ISSN: 2147-4486 city/local council. The environmental master budget should confront the highest council decision-making committee with environmental and sustainable development issues. Local authorities should be able to predict, plan, control, monitor and report the consumption of natural resources, as part of their environmental management activities as called by the Aalborg Charter (1994), the Lisbon Action Plan (1996) and the Hanover Conference (2000). However, for these reasons, the potential of environmental accounting as an aid to economic programming and decision making, in general and at the local level in particular, is still largely underutilized. One of the features of environmental budgeting, as has been implemented, is flexibility in the choice of indicators a choice that reflects, case by case, the interests and criticalities of specific local jurisdictions. It is in urban and suburban contexts, particularly, that the requirement of flexibility in resorting to the appropriate indicators in stronger . n the one hand, composing the menu of indicators in response to specific geographical and social context may appear sensible and pragmatic choice. On the other hand, it is difficult to set up a real, consistent accounting system over time when local governments’ priorities and programs change, because the indicators will also change as a consequence. 2. 1. 2 Environmental accounting used to estimate optimal extractio n levels for quarries: a case of Nakuru municipality. The common aggregate measures of economic performance include Gross Domestic Product (GDP), National Income (NI) and level of employment. However, these indicators ignore natural resources and environmental factors. Though resources and the environment as a whole is not included in the National accounts, changes in the two items contribute to production and income; and must therefore be accounted for. The welfare of the nation’s population present and more especially in the future will be greatly determined by the stock of natural resources available and the quality of environment. Currently, the production processes generally degrades the environments and depletes natural resources. This implies that the system of national accounting used, seriously under-estimates changes in the stock of natural resources and the environment of a nation Kibet (2004). 2. 1. 3 The Green Towns Environmental Project The project was carried out with its objective to initiate a process of environmental awareness among local authority managers, decision makers and the public so as to come out with an environmental development plan of a given town. The project also does the planning on community participation basis. Towns like Malindi and Eldoret are examples of places where the projects have been applied successfully (Kisare 1999). 2. 1. 4 Current environmental issues on air pollution According to JICA (2002) report on Kenya’s profile on the environment, air pollution is not monitored at specific sites, and there are no data on the calculation of annual pollutant emissions. However, from various studies carried out in some parts of the country, air pollution has serious impacts on the environment and health of Kenyan populace. According to these studies, the main air pollutants in major cities such as Nairobi , Mombasa , Nakuru, Eldoret, Thika and other small ones like Webuye, Kikuyu and Limuru just to mention but a few are the suspended particulate matter (SPM), Lead oxide of sulphur , carbon monoxide, hydrogen and oxides of nitrogen. There are no set standards for most of these pollutants. But studies show that levels of some of these pollutants in some towns far exceed the WHO or other international standards. 2. 1. The Contingency theory This approach advocates that there is no one ‘best’ design for a management accounting information system, but that â€Å"it all depends† upon the situational factors (Drury 2004, page 696). Headquarters and business units respond upon the business environment and settle their Management Accounting System. Headquarters delegate responsibilities to the BU-managers. Based upon these responsibilities, and the corporate characteristics, the BU-managers set their demand for information from their BU-controllers, and adjust their demand for information to their own business unit characteristics. This demand for information is sent to the BU-controller. As the literature on role theory indicates , â€Å"role† is a useful tool for examination of the position of the controller as it links three central concepts: role expectations ( what the BU-manager and BU-controller believe he should do); role behavior ( what he actually does ) and how is position is linked to others, thus shaping his â€Å"role set† (Gross et al. 1958 ). Shaping his role set, is answering the question: why do BU-controllers behave in a certain way? Role theorists may say they share expectations for their own behavior and that of others (Biddle 1972 page 115). Thus BU-controllers â€Å"expect† that BUmanagers want to have a bonus and they â€Å"expect† that the corporate controllers want to receive the proper information of business unit performance. There could be a gap or difference between the demand for information by the BU- 94 Kilika Mutua /International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Vol 2, No 3, 2013 ISSN: 2147-4486 manager and the supply of information by the BU-controller. This gap can be explained by the differences between the sender and the receiver, by role theory, the interpersonal relationships, and the differences between BU-manager’s – and BU-controller’s personality and expectations (Kahn et al. 1964). The contingency factors which influence the demand- side are related to: corporate management, environment, business, corporate controller characteristics, and manager’s expectations and expertise. 2. 1. 6 Institutional theory According to Dillard et al. (2004,p. 08), â€Å"an institution is an established order comprising rule-bounded and standardized social practices, and institutionalization is the process whereby the practices expected in various social settings are developed and learned. † Further, institutional theory is chiefly concerned with an organization’s interaction with the institutional environment, the impacts of external expectations on the organization, and the combination of these expe ctations as reflected in the organizational practices (Martinez, 1999). Hence, under this theory, organizations A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs Essay Example A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs Paper Keywords: Environmental Conservation; Local authorities; Environmental costs 0 201 3 Published by SUBNET 1 . Introduction This paper investigates the environmental conservation costs by local authorities in Kenya. Environmental conservation cost refers to the investment and costs measured in monetary values, allocated for prevention, reduction, and or avoidance of environmental impact, removal of such impact, restoration following the occurrences of a disaster and other activities. These are costs borne by companies and organizations for environmental conservation I. . Private costs. The costs do not include costs borne for health damage or environmental pollution suffered by third parties or society as a whole resulting from the business activities of companies and other organizations I. E. Social costs. It means the burden placed upon society as a result of the environmental impact Of a specific company or other organizations, or Of an unspecified entity. Social cost is also referred to as external cost or external discover/ such as damage suffered by a third party or damage caused to forests or agriculture due to environmental impact resulting from the cuisines activities of a company or other organization will not result in a direct economic burden for that company provided that there is no proof of causal relationship but the society as a whole may be considered to have sustained a loss Medley (1997). We will write a custom essay sample on A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Survey of the Environmental Conservation Costs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Environmental conservation cost can be categorized into one, business area costs which are costs for activities to reduce environmental impact which occur within the business area due to key business operations. The business area is the region where the organization can directly manage environmental impacts. Business area cost s associated with environmental conservation is divided into pollution prevention cost, global environmental cost and resource recycling cost. Secondly, administration cost which is the cost for management activities conducted by companies and other organizations for environmental conservation activities. The cost includes the cost for efforts that directly contribute to reducing the environmental impact generated through business activities, and the cost for efforts for communication a Corresponding author. Kali Samuel, Tell. : +020 086 808. 89 Kali Mutual International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Volvo 2, No , 2013 SIGNS 2147-4486 with society by companies and other organizations, like the cost for environmental training for employees, cost for environmental improvement activities such as nature conservation, greening, and beautification. Thirdly, environmental remediation costs. These are costs allocated for recovery Of the environmental degradation due to business activities like the cost to restore natural environment back to its original state, provision or insurance fees to cover degradation to the environment. Fourth, social activity cost which is a cost related to environmental conservation conducted for the good f the broad range of society Gulch (2000). This is considered a cost for environmental conservation efforts consisting of social activities with no direct relationship to the business activities of the company or other organizations like cost for environmental activities like planting of greenery, beautification and landscape preservation. Fifth is the RD cost which constitutes spending for research and development activities allocated to environmental conservation. Lastly are the upstream/ downstream costs. Upstream cost is a cost for efforts to reduce the environmental impact that is reared prior to the input of goods and services into business areas, as well as the cost related to such efforts I. E. Provision of materials for goods and services. Downstream cost is a cost for efforts to reduce the environmental impact that is created after goods and services have been output from business areas, as well as the cost related to such efforts I. E. Use and consumption of goods and services Medley (1997). The study seeks to determine environmental costs by local authorities in Kenya. The study acts as an exploratory on environmental accounting forming a basis for further search and illustrate important findings for the groups including the local authorities in Kenya and the stakeholders of local authorities like consumers of their services, business partners, investors, employees of particular local authorities and the residents. The local authorities can be able to establish the benefits they get from environment conservation as well as the costs of undertaking environmental activities, utter researchers, local government of Kenya as well as other scholars. . Literature Review The section presents both theoretical (untested) as well as empirical (tested) literature relevant to he subject of study. Accounting for environmental costs and performance can support a companys / organizations development and operation of an overall environmental management system. Understanding the environmental costs and performance of processes and products can promote more accurate costing and pricing of products and can aid organizations in the design of more environmentally preferable processes, products and services for the future. Better management of environmental costs can result in improved environmental performance and significant benefits to human health as well as business success. The disclosure of environmental accounting regarding environmental conservation activities of companies and other organizations, including public interest organizations and local public entities, provides a means for stakeholders to understand, evaluate, and give their support to such efforts. Environmental accounting continues to take root as part of the social system. Taking into account, developments in environmental accounting at companies and other organizations, it has the objective of supporting the introduction and implementation of environmental accounting at companies and other organizations. Environmental accounting is also intended to insure that the information disclosed takes into consideration the needs of the various stakeholders. Another objective is to improve the effectiveness of environmental accounting methodology, so that by employing given guidelines in organizing environmental accounting data, companies and other organizations can monitor their data not only for publication, but also further their objective of internal environmental management (Bailey, 1991). The quantitative management of environmental conservation activities is an effective way of achieving and maintaining sound business management. In other words, in carrying out environmental conservation activities, a company or Other organizations can accurately identify and measure investments and costs related to environmental conservation activities, and can prepare and analyze this data. By having better insight into the potential benefits of these investments and costs, the company can not only improve the efficiency of its activities, but also utilize environmental accounting as a discipline which plays a very important role in supporting rational decision-making. In addition, companies and other organizations are required to have accountability to takeovers, such as consumers, business partners, investors, employees, local residents, and administration, when utilizing environmental resources, I. E. Public goods, for their business activities. Disclosure of environmental accounting information is a key process in performing accountability. Consequently, environmental accounting helps companies and other organizations boost their public trust and confidence and are associated with receiving a fair assessment (Lehman, 2000). The functions of environmental accounting are divided into internal and external functions. As one step of an organizations environmental information system, internal function makes it possible to manage environmental conservation cost and analyze the cost of environmental conservation activities versus the benefit obtained, and promotes effective and 90 Kali Mutual [International Journal of Finance Banking Studies Volvo 2, No 3, 2013 SINS: 2147-4486 efficient environmental conservation activities through suitable decision- making. It is desirable for environmental accounting to function as a business management tool for use by managers and related business units. On the other hand, by disclosing the quantitatively measured results of its environmental conservation activities, external functions allow an organization to influence the decision-making of stakeholders, such as consumers, business partners, investors, local residents, and administration. It is hoped that the publication of environmental accounting results will function both as a means for organizations to fulfill their responsibility for accountability to stakeholders and, simultaneously, as a means for appropriate evaluation of environmental conservation activities (Lehman, 2000). Local authorities in Kenya are the bodies controlling local governance in Kenya. Local Authorities in Kenya are governed by the local government Act cap 265 laws of Kenya. Kenya has 1 75 local authorities which are categorized into city councils, town councils, municipal councils and county councils. The Act spells out wide ranging powers and functions for local authorities, where most of these functions undertaken by the local authorities relate to provision of public services, promotion of good governance and simulation of good economic growth. The functions and responsibilities cover basic services such as markets, garbage collection, street lighting maintenance, velveteen planning, roads, sewerage, community welfare, slaughterhouses and burial of destitute people. There are also provisions of health to the community through health centers as well as dispensaries. Besides health facilities the council provides housing, schools and recreational facilities and maintenance of parks (Local government Act caps 265 laws of Kenya). Local authorities get their funding from the local authorities transfer fund (LATA) which is a block grant that transfers 5% of the national income to the local authorities. It distribution is SSH 1. 5 million to ACH of the 175 local authorities in Kenya (per annum). This is 60% in proportion to the total population of each local authority, 40% in proportion to the urban population of each local authority. The second source of funds is road maintenance levy fund (ARMFUL) which is collected from fuel levy on petroleum products and transit toll collections. The third source of funds is the contribution in lieu of rates (COLOR) which a local tax levied on property like land by the local authority as authorized by the central government . ML Circular (2009). Machined (2009) in his study on local government processes ND the environment in Africa stated that by and large, the conventional planning approaches have either ignored or underestimated the growing environmental concerns. The search for planning responses to the devastating environmental concerns has culminated in the assembly of an environmental tool box containing an assortment of instruments notably, pop Elution control and licensing, Environmental Impact Assessments (Eels), natural resource management plans and environmental auditing. Most of these instruments are quasi-planning in nature normally deployed to complement the conventional land-use planning tools but largely outside the rotational planning practice. This points out that, in the mainstream planning activities, the emerging environmental management specializations have increasingly drifted apart theoretically, legally, administratively and in their specific responses to environmental problems. The irony of this compartmentalizing is that urban planning largely grew out of the pragmatic concerns for the health of citizens and their social well-being in the wake of the industrialization cities of the nineteenth century. The growing magnitude of the negative environmental concerns impacting sustainable urban development must be redressed by personalizing the symbiotic relationships between urban development and environmental management through the application of the relevant planning instruments. In the study by Kappa (2005) on Lesotho local government system, he stated that there was need for control of natural resources like sand and stones as well as environmental protection like pollution land/site allocation, water supply and market provision. Indention (2005) in the review of local government financing in Ireland, stated that environmental protection expenditure was 695. 2 million which was 19. % Of the total expenditure for 2004 and that water supply and sewerage consumed 450. 6 million which was 12. % of the total expenditure giving evidence that governments are responding to environmental challenges. Local studies on environment accounting have been done. UNDO (2000) on its study on millennium development goals in Kenya stated that the current needs assessment recommended that it would take SSH to develop and implement a strategy for integrating principles and practices of environmental accounting within and /or alongside the system of national accounting (SAN) even if on a pilot basis. Ministry of youth affairs (2010) on environmental and social management framework (SAME) stated that one of the key environmental and social issues in Kenya is health and environment and further explains that most of the urban areas in Kenya are faced by domestic waste and sewage management problems with only 32 out of the 1 75 local authorities having any form of sewage collection and disposal infrastructure. Enema (2005) in its strategic plan for 2005-2010 stated that there was lack of sewerage system and facilities for 143 out of 175 local authorities which led to increased cases of environmental health robbers due to 91 pollution of the ecosystem by heavy metals and chemicals such as nitrates. Wean and Mutual (2007) in their study on e-governance in local authorities in Kenya stated that the LAYOFFS is limited to financial management and has only three main components, revenues, budgeting and financial management and expenditure, a study that fails to mention environmental accounting issues. According to Kibitz (2004), Environmental costs are obscured in conventional accounts and yet they are real costs that should be accommodated by all firms and industries. Management of the environmental costs will result in improved environment, production and generally wealth of the urban population in the study area. This study would also argue for a clearer policy of the management of extractive industries and any other industry that largely tends to exploit natural resources. This will also contribute to the sustainability of the growth and development of not only the urban regions but also the rural. Being a pioneering study on one of the industries in an urban centre, other studies covering the various industries and regions will be encouraged. It is the ultimate purpose of this duty to have other studies expanded to include all firms and sectors in the economy. To arrive at aggregates for the whole economy it is important to begin with the microeconomic production units. In his studies Hosannas (1996) stated that in the coming decades, the continued urban population growth and especially the continued growth of the urban poor was expected to immensely challenge global sustainability. As at 2001, there were 43 cities in Africa with populations of more than one million and it is expected to increase to almost 70 by 201 5 (UNPIN, 2001 Nassau would be among these ties. More problems of overcrowding, informal settlements, inadequate housing, poor infrastructure etc. Are bound to increase. Infrastructural development has been slow in keeping pace with burgeoning needs of the urban population. Since most urban environmental problems result from poor management, poor planning and absence of coherent urban policies (Hosannas, 1996); it is important that these dimensions be addressed in all sectors of the urban domain. Another study by Hosannas (2003) stated that the conventional national accounting systems, excludes: domestic production; reduces directly extracted from communal resources for household consumption and not traded in the market, and; benefits from ecological services, cultural, aesthetic, etc. Though GAP included income from extracted resources corresponding value of these assets lost to the economy was omitted. Depletion of natural and human capital was excluded from total national wealth of a nation and hence the measures of economic performance were wrong and misleading. Daly (1996) explained clearly that sustainable development sought to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. In other words, the present generation must leave the air, water and natural resources as pure and unpolluted as when it found it. Strong sustainability clarifies that in the case of renewable resources annual off-take must be kept equal to the annual growth increment while in the case of nonrenewable depletion should be at a rate equal to the development of renewal substitutes. That meant that stock of natural capital should not be reduced below a level that generated sustained yield unless good substitutes were then available. Hosannas (2003) stated that sustainable development therefore, had to be financed in such a manner as to compensate for future depletion of exhaustible resources. He gave the example where policies had ensured sustainability from mining in South Africa, where the capital component (C) was fully reinvested in alternative forms of capital Hosannas (2002). According to Disgusts and Male, the correct index of checking if development is sustainable is wealth. When accounting prices that reflect trade-offs among present and future well- beings and among contemporaries are used to determine well-being, wealth becomes a good index for showing whether development is sustainable or not. Poverty causes a society to elk out living through adverse exploitation of resources and this is the state of the populations in the Less Developed Countries (Olds) (Disgusts Male, 1995). Accounting for externalities has been adopted in the microeconomic level within the firm in hydroelectricity (EPA 1996), health sector (EPA 2000), chemical and oil companies (EPA AAA) and electroplating operations (ERA, 1 Bibb) among others. The studies sampled, applied various environmental accounting techniques to evaluate environmental costs of economic activities in an industry. The results showed existence of positive environmental costs in all cases with an implication that most economics activities have environmental costs which are yet to be accounted for. Enema (2005), in its report stated that there were challenges that led to unsuitable management practices of ecosystems and their inherent biodiversity. Increased slum settlement in urban areas due to rapid rural-urban migration resulting in environmental problems of overcrowding, poor garbage disposal and environmental diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid. Kisser (1999) in his studies on local government planning and management stated that there were increased environmental pollution and degradations resulting from uncontrolled industrial smoke-emissions, discharge of untreated industrial effluent into rivers, dumping of toxic waste and deforestation of peer-urban woodlands. 92 In the annual report by the ministry of petroleum, the Egyptian general petroleum corporation(2000) stated that natural resource damages is a new category of environmental liability which had been established in the United States according to a number of regulatory such as the clean water Act and the oil pollution Act. Such resources include flora, fauna, land, air, and water sources. The liability can arise from accidental release as well as lawful release to air, water, and soil. As a result there was a wide range of environmental expenditures such as abatement costs, elimination costs and handling of waste costs just to mention but a few, as well as environmental capital expenditures as a result of buying a new and/ or new cleaner technology. Goals such as environmental costs optimization, better environmental performance, identifying the true (full) costs and identifying the social costs all require knowing the different current and potential costs. However the study further stated that knowing the environmental costs depended upon the organizational purpose for using such data like cost allocation, capital budgeting, product design and all that managerial decisions . He report ends by stating that the domain and scope of applying the costs if sometimes to be vague whether the costs are environmental or not. SETAE (1993) on its report on a multi-disciplinary approach to solving problems of the impact of chemicals and technology in the environment stated that some companies were paying a significant portion of their total environmental costs o clean up pollution caused decades before like remediation costs related to superfine only being incurred by then but pertained Of decades before that time. Due to the fact that the corporate environmental expenditures being often substantial, including them in the product costs affected the profitability of the products, facilities and divisions. Many companies according to the report include current operating costs pertaining to past environmental liabilities in their current product costs with the justification ,other expenses that created future benefits were charged to product costs or corporate overhead, including product development,research and development, and advertising expenses. Thus, current products benefited from those prior expenditures and the product costs must bear the costs related to prior production, just as it reaps the benefits. Therefore, from the above studies it is apparent that organizations are involved in environmental conservation costs and local authorities in Kenya are such kind of organizations that have both direct and indirect interactions with the immediate environment, thus, local authorities must incur environmental conservation costs. The studies mint out that there is need to find out the various environmental conservation costs local authorities in Kenya go through. 2. 1 Accounting Theory The accounting theory has evolved through a long passage of time during which substantial changes in human behavior and market structures have taken place. The theory outlines how accountants have identified certain broad assumptions on which financial results of a business are prepared . These assumptions are called accounting concepts which define the rules under which financial statements of an entity should be prepared. The theory rings out boundary rules like entity, periodicity and going concern concepts to determine what should and should not be reported. Once the boundary is set, it should then determine how the accounting data should be recorded I. E. Money measurement, historical cost, realization accruals, matching, duality and materiality. The theory limits the room for individual maneuvers, a number of ethical rules like prudence, consistence and objectivity have evolved, which suggest that there is a moral dimension in financial reporting. . 1. 1 Green budgeting theory (in Environmental accounting in local overspent) It is by initiative of the local Agenda 21 (ALAI after the ROI summit (1992) and the Johannesburg summit (2002) that schemes of environmental accounting at sub-national levels of government started to be developed: a bottom-up approach. , source of a large diversity of initiatives, in contrast to the top-down approach followed by nationals statistics offices coordinated, in ad dition, by supranational organizations such as the United Nations and Rheostat. Amidst the consequent fragmentation of local experiences, the only exception is the Gobbet scheme, promoted by the International Council for Environmental Initiative (ICICLE), which has been implemented in more or less the same form by a few local governments in several countries. Its basic idea is to implement a budgeting system for natural resources that conforms to the community financial budgeting: the current institutions and procedures must provide the model for the budgeting of natural resources. It is based on environmental indicators and as such it does not aim to provide a monetary evaluation of the environment, or to maintain long term, detailed and systematic accounts to be used in logic design and programming. Rather, its purpose is to help monitoring the effectiveness of local governments in achieving the set targets in matter of environmental policy, and communicating objectives, achievements or failures between policy makers and citizens. In principle, the objective could be more ambitious: inserting environmental issues on the political agenda not in an ad hoc manner but rather as systematic reporting to the 93 city/local council. The environmental master budget should confront the highest council decision-making committee with environmental and sustainable development issues. Local authorities should be able to predict, plan, control, monitor and report the consumption Of natural resources, as part of their environmental management activities as called by the Labor Charter (1994), the Lisbon Action Plan (1996) and the Hanover Conference (2000). However, for these reasons, the potential of environmental accounting as an aid to economic programming and decision making, in general and at the local level in particular, is still largely neutralized. One of the features of environmental budgeting, as has been implemented, is legibility in the choice of indicators a choice that reflects, case by case, the interests and criticalness of specific local jurisdictions.

Prehistoric Life During the Devonian Period

Prehistoric Life During the Devonian Period From a human perspective, the Devonian period was a crucial time for the evolution of vertebrate life: this was the period in geological history when the first tetrapods climbed out of the primordial seas and began to colonize dry land. The Devonian occupied the middle part of the Paleozoic Era (542-250 million years ago), preceded by the Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian periods and followed by the Carboniferous and Permian periods. Climate and Geography The global climate during the Devonian period was surprisingly mild, with average ocean temperatures of only 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (compared to as high as 120 degrees during the preceding Ordovician and Silurian periods). The North and South Poles were only marginally cooler than the areas closer to the equator, and there were no ice caps; the only glaciers were to be found atop high mountain ranges. The smallish continents of Laurentia and Baltica gradually merged to form Euramerica, while the giant Gondwana (which was destined to break apart millions of years later into Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Australia) continued its slow southward drift. Terrestrial Life Vertebrates. It was during the Devonian period that the archetypal evolutionary event in the history of life  took place: the adaptation of lobe-finned fish to life on dry land. The two best candidates for the earliest tetrapods (four-footed vertebrates) are Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, which themselves evolved from earlier, exclusively marine vertebrates like Tiktaalik and Panderichthys. Surprisingly, many of these early tetrapods possessed seven or eight digits on each of their feet, meaning they represented dead ends in evolution since all terrestrial vertebrates on earth today employ the five-finger, five-toe body plan. Invertebrates. Although tetrapods were certainly the biggest news of the Devonian period, they werent the only animals that colonized  dry land. There was also a wide array of small arthropods, worms, flightless insects and other pesky invertebrates, which took advantage of the complex terrestrial plant ecosystems that started to develop at this time to gradually spread inland (though still not too far away from bodies of water). During this time, though, the vast bulk of life on earth lived deep in the water. Marine Life The Devonian period marked both the apex and the extinction of the placoderms, prehistoric fish characterized by their tough armor plating (some placoderms, such as the enormous Dunkleosteus, attained weights of three or four tons). As noted above, the Devonian also teemed with lobe-finned fish, from which the first tetrapods evolved, as well as relatively new ray-finned fish, the most populous family of fish on earth today. Relatively small sharkssuch as the bizarrely ornamented Stethacanthus and the weirdly scaleless Cladoselachewere an increasingly common sight in the Devonian seas. Invertebrates like sponges and corals continued to flourish, but the ranks of the trilobites were thinned out, and only the giant eurypterids (invertebrate sea scorpions) successfully competed with vertebrate sharks for prey. Plant Life It was during the Devonian period that the temperate regions of the earths evolving continents first became truly green. The Devonian witnessed the first significant jungles and forests, the spread of which was aided by the evolutionary competition among plants to gather as much sunlight as possible (in a dense forest canopy, a tall tree has a significant advantage in harvesting energy over a tiny shrub). The trees of the late Devonian period were the first to evolve rudimentary bark (to support their weight and protect their trunks), as well as robust internal water-conduction mechanisms that helped to counteract the force of gravity. The End-Devonian Extinction The end of the Devonian period ushered in the second great extinction of prehistoric life on earth, the first being the mass extinction event at the end of the Ordovician period. Not all animal groups were affected equally by the End-Devonian Extinction: reef-dwelling placoderms and trilobites were especially vulnerable, but deep-sea organisms escaped relatively unscathed. The evidence is sketchy, but many paleontologists believe that the Devonian extinction was caused by multiple meteor impacts, debris from which may have poisoned the surfaces of lakes, oceans, and rivers.

For movie Doubt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

For movie Doubt - Essay Example For him, the said method will give greater impact than to write an ending since every ending created by each audience evidently apply in their own lives. By having personal conclusion as to how the story will end, analysis can be undertaken and the impact of movie will be greater (Pinto). Due to the heightened tension as to what was really happening in real life, people went out of their way to watch and see the play when it was first portrayed on stage. They were hoping that the play would shed some light as to what have transpired in the past. However, that was not the intention of the play. People who would like to see films that are neatly plotted and will have a happy ever after ending would not be pleased with this film. However, it is not just an eye-opener as to what is happening within the church but also the way how the audience would be thinking. The film tested the capability of the audience to accept what the film has to offer. The movie not only tested the artistic limi tations of the people in understanding the perspective of the story (Pinto). Though the plot of the story was based on the scandalous rumors going around during the time the play was originally shown, Shanley said in one of his interviews that it is not all about the church or the topic that is hitting the core of Catholicism. In his interview, he elaborated that the message of the film barely touched religion and abuse. Rather it was about people who lives with doubts and prejudice in their daily lives. In life, there are no what if’s, right now is what a person only has. If a person has doubts in his heart and mind, he would not have anything at all when his presumptions are proven to be false. â€Å"When your assumptions are overturned, what are you left with to look at,† Shanley stated (Fine). It is not just doubt which is present in the story. There is also the undying inequality factor. In the movie, it was shown that the nuns and the priests are not having the s ame privileges though they are on the same inclination. It just shows that inequality is still very much present in this world, inequality between men and women, blacks and whites, rich and poor. Does being on the upper hand of things makes a person better than another (NPR.Org)? â€Å"You can't hold a child responsible for what God gave him to be,† the character of Mrs. Miller expressed in the film. Since her son is the only black student in school, it is not his fault that he is black. He is not lesser than the other students because of the color of his skin. Malice enters the story as the factor which drove Sister Aloysius to think that Donald was exploited by the priest. It is simply because then, until now, people are still being judged because of the color of their skin or the way they speak. Prejudice is also one of the factors present in a person’s daily life. Usually, these prejudices arise when a person’s background became known to another. When such p rejudice enters the scene, inequality is not far behind. These prejudgments tend to label people because of some other things besides the fact of who they truly are. Though a person may have a clean record, there are minds that are just full of embedded stories which are waiting to be said out loud. It is because of these things why people perceive something as right and wrong and see people whether they are good or bad. It is only the outside which is being taken in consideration and not what is inside which matters the most (NPR.Org).

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Research Proposal - Essay Example But burnout and stress is a common phenomenon that operates globally irrespective of the locality and country. Hence, the current research intends to observe the factors that are causing the workplace stress in UK amidst of the hanging scenario of globalization activities. Whether, the working culture of UK for long hours still dominates the work motivation of the employees or not is the key area of observation. Outcomes of the stress and the risk levels of stress is proposed to be analyzed parallel. Stress management aspects like stress reduction techniques, stress control policies, employee workplace facilities etc., will be closely observed. And the conceptual frame work of UK to manage the stress at workplace will be closely observed to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented guidelines and the current status of the stress management in workplaces. The study is proposed to use quantitative research methodology to prove the hypothesis as it facilitates the researcher to collect the primary data from a big population of employees on the factors of stress at work. And the qualitative research method is proposed to observe the UK framework to address the stress at work and impact or effect of the local organization with those guidelines. The literature review is proposed to observe different illustrations and opinions of experts on industry facts. Qualitative method is proposed to collect the secondary data to evaluate the preliminary facts of the employment details and policies. Qualitative research methods can be described as naturalistic, anthropological, and ethnographic and can be used through interpretivism paradigm in the current research. As per definition of Byrne’s definition (cited in Rob O Neil), qualitative research is about ‘inquiries of knowledge that are outside the framework prescribed by the scientific method, as well as assumptions of inferential statistics’, the

Supply and Demand Concepts Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supply and Demand Concepts - Assignment Example The price floor of 16 create a surplus of 4000 in the tablet market. Price floor alters the forces of demand and supply in the market (Bhaskar, 1997). In a natural case, the tablet would be selling at 12, but the price floor of 16 prompt the producer to produce more due to the high return expected in the market. On the other hand, consumer would be hesitant to buy at 16 thus, making the market have a surplus of 4000. Price ceiling is maximum price set for a specific good to help the citizen afford at a considerable price lower than the market value. In the tablet market, market price ceiling will create a shortage in the market as a supplier would not be willing to supply a tablet at a price lower than the market price. For this case where price ceiling is set at price $8, the market will experience a shortage of 4000 tablets. The purpose of price ceiling is to bring equity among all customers. A drop in price for the tablet by 50% would alter the market equilibrium. People will demand more tablet than before and the supply for the same will decrease as the prices drops from $12 to $6. The ultimate impact is a downward shift in the demand curve. The market for tablet will have more demand than the supply of table. This scenario is what is referred to as shortage in the market. In cases, all thing are kept constant when price decreases; the market will have to endure with shortages of tablet as the demand will not be met by the available supply. However, according to the laws of demand a reduction in price dictate that the quantity supplied would also reduce. Thus, the supply curve shift to the left and the market will return to the equilibrium price. An increase in income for the tablet consumer would shift the demand curve to the right (other thing constant). Increase in customer’s income leaves them with extra money after their other expenditure to buy tablets and thus increase the demand for tablet. However, because the market for tablet is free

Chest Pain Case Study

Chest Pain Case Study Ebunoluwa Mikiie Chest Pain There are various Chest pains. Chest pain may be caused by gastrointestinal, respiratory, cardiac or musculoskeletal analysis. Chest pains may also be caused by anxiety, pericardium, myocardium, parietal pleural, aorta, esophagus, Chest wall, trachea and large bronchi, skin, and musculoskeletal system. As a nurse, I must carefully assess by asking questions, such as Location: where do you feel the pain in your chest? Onset: when did the pain begin? Duration: Does it happen with breathing? Is it nonstop or comes and goes? Associated manifestation: what else is experienced with the chest pain? Characteristics: describe your pain? Treatment: have you seen anyone or tried any medication? Relieving factors: does anything make it better (Nursing Guide)? Anxiety procedure is not clear. It is located below the left breast or across the anterior chest. The quality of pain is stabbing, sticking, dull or aching. Its severity is varying. It can be from hours to days. Symptoms are shallow breathing, anxiety, weakness and palpitations. Aggravating factor may be emotional stress. A relieving factor is unknown (Nursing Guide). Pulmonary: Tracheobronchitis is Inflammation of the trachea and bronchi, and is located at the on both sides of the sternum or at the sternal. The quality of pain is a burning sensation, severity, mild to moderate. The timing is variable. Aggravating factor is coughing, and relieving factor is lying on the affected side (Nursing guide). Pleuritis Pain: Inflammation of the parietal pleura as in pleurisy, pneumonia, pulmonary infarction or neoplasm, located at the chest wall. The quality of pain is sharp and can hurt like a knife with severe pain. Aggravating factors are inspiration, coughing and movements of the trunk, and relieving factors are medication and treatment. Its timing is persistent (Nursing Guide). Cardiovascular: Angina Pictoris: Temporary myocardial ischemia, usually secondary to coronary atherosclerosis, located at the anterior chest that sometimes radiates to the shoulder, arm, neck, lower jaw or upper abdomen. The quality of pain is pressing, squeezing, tight and heavy with occasional burning. The severity is mild to moderate; this is sometimes perceived as discomfort rather than pain. Its timing is usually 1-3 minutes but up to 10 minutes, prolonged episodes are up to 20 minutes. Association symptoms are dyspnea, nausea and sweating. Aggravating factors are exertion in the cold, meals, emotional stress, it sometimes occurs at rest. Relieving factors are rest and nitroglycerin (Nursing Guide) Myocardial Infarction: This is prolonged myocardial ischemia, and results in irreparable muscle damage and/or necrosis. It is located at the anterior chest that sometimes radiates to the shoulder, arm, lower jaw, neck or upper abdomen. The quality of pain is like angina. Myocardial Infarction is often but not always a severe pain, with a timing of 20 minutes to several hours. The relieving and aggravating factors are unknown (Nursing Guide). Pericarditis: Irritation of the parietal pleura, adjacent to the pericardium. It is located at the precordial space and could radiate to the tip of the shoulder and the neck. The quality of pain is also sharp and knife-like and also severe with persistent timing. Aggravating factors are breathing changing position, lying down, swallowing and coughing. A relieving factor is sitting forward (Nursing Guide). Gastrointestinal: Reflex Esophagitis: Inflammation of the esophageal mucosa by reflux of gastric acid. It is located retro sternal and may radiate to the back. Its severity is mild to severe with variable timing. The quality of pain is burning and squeezing sensation. Aggravating factors are eating large meals, lying down, and also bending over. Relieving factors are antacid and sometimes belching. Associated symptoms are regurgitation and dyspnea (Nursing Guide). Chest wall Pain: The progression is not always clear, it is frequently found along the costal cartilages or below the left breast. The quality of pain is aching, dull, stabbing, or sticking. Its timing can be from hours to days and has variable severity. An associated symptom is a local tenderness. An aggravating factor may be movement of arms, trunk and chest. Relieving factor is unknown (Nursing Guide). Assessment SOAP note on two individuals adults. The first individual has a history of high blood pressure; he is taking his blood pressure medication regularly. The second individual has a history of diabetes; he exercise regularly and eat healthily, but is concerned that his lifestyle change is not apparent in weight loss outcome. A general assessment was done on both patients, but focused area was done on the upper and lower extremities for skin turgor, color temperature and capillary refills. Patient one: Mr. J.M. is a 49-year-old white male, a car salesperson. He was born in Georgia. Subjective: Mr. J.M. has a history of High Blood Pressure. Mr. J.M. said that he has been taking atenolol 25mg once a day by mouth for one year, and has no negative effect from it. He rated his pain scale as 0/10 (0-10 pain scale). He said he was concern about having a heart failure form cardiac issues from stress due to the nature of his job. Objective: Vital Signs, temperature 98.4, pulse 77, respiration 18 and blood pressure 130/80. Head, eyes and nose appears normal no pallor noted. Skin turgor normal and elastic, no signs of dehydration or excessive dryness noted. Color fair, normal for race, no change or abnormal pigmentation observed. Skin is warm and dry to touch (using the back of my hands). Capillary refills in upper and lower extremities of nail beds less than 2 seconds. Respiration clear, no, wheezing or shortness of breath or noisy breathing noted. Lung sounds auscultated, clear bilaterally at anterior and posterior lower and upper lobes. Normal breath sounds, soft and low pitch over most of both lungs, equal expiratory and inspiratory sounds. Irregular breath sounds will necessitate instantaneous care. No adventitious breath sounds such as crackles, wheezes or rhonchi noted. Heart sounds auscultated, normal S1 and S2 noted. These areas were palpated, brachial pulse found at the inner aspect of the elbow; it i s also a regular site use to obtain blood pressure measurements. The radial pulse is located at the thumb site of the wrist, the popliteal pulse at the back of the knee, the femoral pulse is located in the groin region, the dorsalis pedis pulse at the top of the foot, the posterior tibial pulse at the lower side at the inner aspect of the ankle. It is to locating these sites are imperative because they are necessary pressure points in case of severe bleeding. The amplitude of the pulses compares equitably, when the pulses were palpated (www.nursing times.net). Abdomen is soft and non-tender, and the bowel sounds active in all four quadrants, with active range of motion (ROM) noted in bilateral upper and lower extremities. Diagnosis: Knowledge deficit related to signs and symptoms of heart failure as evidence by patient’s concern of stress and impending heart failure. Blood pressure within normal range. Plan: Encourage Patient to continue taking his medication, increase water intake to at least eight glasses per day, decrease additional salt intake to help maintain normal blood pressure. Patient to continue daily exercise. Encourage patient to keep physician appointment. Routine laboratory test include complete blood count (CBC), urinalysis, thyroid panel, chemistry panels, thyroid panel, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), glucose check, and white blood count (WBC). Patient 2: Mr. J.J. is a 40-year-old African America male, businessperson. He was born in Georgia. Subjective: Patient came into the clinic with concern of not able to see the resulting exercise with his weight, change in diet. Patient associated his not being able to loose with his history of being a diabetic for over three years. He said that currently he takes metformin 1000mg twice a day by mouth. Patient denies any pain at this time. Objective: Vital Signs, temperature 98.6, pulse 84, respiration 20 and blood pressure 127/76. Blood sugar 115 mg/dl. Weight 200 pounds. Head, eyes and nose appears normal. Skin turgor normal and elastic, no signs of dehydration or excessive dryness noted. Color appropriates to ethnicity, no pallor noted, no change or abnormal pigmentation noted. Temperature of the skin is warm to touch. Capillary refills in upper and lower extremities nail beds less than 2 seconds. Respiration clear, no shortness of breath, wheezing or noisy breathing noted. Lung sounds auscultated, clear bilaterally at anterior and posterior upper and lower lobes. Normal breath sounds noted. No crackles or wheezes or rhonchi. Heart sounds auscultated and normal. These areas were palpated; brachial pulse establish at the inner part [tm1]of the elbow. Radial pulse found at the wrist. Femoral pulse found in the groin area. Popliteal pulse found at the back of the knee, the dorsalis pedis pulse found at the top of the f oot, the posterior tibial pulse found at the lower side at the inner aspect of the ankle. The amplitude of the pulses compares equitably, when the pulses were palpated (www.nursing times.net). Abdomen soft and non-tender, bowel sound noted in all four quadrants, active range of motion noted in bilateral upper and lower extremities. Diagnosis: Non-reassuring weight loss related history of diabetes. GLucose 115mg/dl before food. Plan: The patient should be congratulated on taking steps to live a healthy life. I would encourage the patient to continue his exercise and include exercises to target specific areas he wants to loose. I would encourage him to continue with his medication regimen and continue with his healthy lifestyle change to help with his medication. Routine laboratory test: Glucose (hemoglobin A1C); thyroid panel; white blood count (WBC); blood urea nitrogen (BUN); complete blood count (CBC). [tm1]

Depiction of Latinos in 20th Century Film Essay -- Latino Portrayal Fi

Depiction of Latinos in 20th Century Film Graphs Not Included Over the course of this past century, the depictions of assimilated Latino characters has improved a great deal. Early portrayals of Latino assimilation generally proved to be a montage of unrealistic caricatures which seemed to convey the filmmaker's creativity more so than true representations. This formed the manner in which the American people at large viewed not just Latino characters attempting to assimilate, but also those who were not. As Cine-Aztlan puts it, film "manipulates the human psychology, sociology, religion, and morality of the people, in a word the ideological super-structure of modern capitalist society" (pg.275, Chicanos and Film). As the years went by however, mainly because Latinos started gaining power in the film industry and depicting (as opposed to creating) Latino characters, the images of Latinos who were adapting (either by choice or by societal force) to the lifestyle and values of the United States, grew more and more representative of what was actually taking place outside of the film studios. Today, most portrayals of assimilated Latinos are fairly accurate. The forces to which their modification is portrayed are not so much representative of middle-class White America however, but rather that of Urban Hip-Hop culture. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram. 1921) provides us with an inaccurate portrayal of an assimilated Latino character. First and foremost, it is important to note that Julio Desnoyers (the Latino character in question) is played by Rudolph Valentino, a non-Latino. This in itself makes him seem "un-Latino" to the Hispanic audience. Also, Julio represented the prototypical Latin Lover during t... ...e growing power of Latinos in the film industry. Latino producers such as Joseph Vasquez have made many films (such as Hangin? with the Homeboys and Manhattan Merengue) which show Latinos in a truer light. Also, since some of today?s hottest movie stars are Latino, big time producers cannot ignore the influence which they bring to the studio. Leguizamo, Antoni Banderas, and Jeniffer Lopez are just three examples of the growing number of latin@s whose appeal and presence in the film industry can help the overall cause of Latino representation, whether it be assimilated depictions or wholly cultural ones. It is important to recognize that American society recognize that there are indeed differences between U.S. Latin@s and Latin@s in their respective countries. In order to do this; both must be portrayed in popular film. GRAPH

Initial Assessment Essay

The reasoning for using Initial Assessment in my curriculum area is because the majority of students have not completed a formal education or if having done so hold little or no qualifications. The majority of the courses start at entry level therefore no qualifications’ are require, but to offer students progression on to higher levels they need to be holding or be able to achieve a level 1 in communication and application of number. This is the minimum requirement to complete an apprenticeship programme and the vast majority wish to follow the vocational route to being a ‘qualified tradesman’. Procedures Before the day of enrolment students are fore warned at the interview stage what the awarding bodies’ requirement is to do a particular course. In the case of Construction Awards Alliance they have their own assessment criteria to try a match the suitability of the student to a particular trade. However because we deliver from entry to level 2 with three bodies to keep to the assessment process standard the college format is used( booklet produced by the learning centre, attached). Hillier. J (2005 p62) states â€Å"Great care must be used with such assessment activities. Many potential learners will feel highly by being threatened by being asked to undertake a diagnostic assessment. † In my opinion as long as students are made aware that this is not a formal test the majority do not mind taking the test, provided that the reasoning behind it is explained correctly. As a tutor it is important I remember the purpose of the test as Lambert. D and Lines. D (2000 p20) state â€Å"formative assessment is undertaken so that positive achievements of a pupil can be recognised and the appropriate next step planned†. Once all the information is collated this is entered into the course/ student profile booklet, this enables me or any other tutors to look at a particular student or group qualifications and progress as they are recorded for each achievement. Personally I think that the process works well when we complete the diagnostics on line as students can not see how others are doing. Most students feel more comfortable using this method as they do not feel as much pressure as they can wear head phones if required. The whole purpose works well because as a tutor working on entry level and to a certain degree on level 1, communication and application of number can be imbedded into the practical aspects of the course. The major weakness that I feel of the assessment process is that they are not curriculum specific; aspects of application of number are not relevant to the vocational subject. As I have experienced my self and some mature students the terminology of key words has changed until we have had them explained. When using the paper versions students that struggle to read or write often do not complete enough of the booklet, for the tutor to find the true level the students capable / working at. An important aspect that is often missed is the fact that to help students there is a requirement to have extra support in place if require for individuals. If there is no support is there a need for assessment? Yes but ensure all the support is provided and available as required in a timely manner.

Free Essays on Working Mothers

Many women today are facing choices that their mothers never had to face. One of these choices is whether or not to go back to work after having a child. This was practically unheard of in the 1950's. In the 1990's it is not whether the mother will or will not go back to work, rather a question of when. When did the choice become set in stone? Why do the mothers of today have to work outside the home versus working in the home, much like their mothers did. When one thinks of the subject of working mothers, many differing opinions come to mind. What will happen to the child, will the mother have sufficient time to bond with the baby, how will household chores be divided, and so on. When thinking of working women, two models come to mind. One of which is paid employment that has a protective and beneficial mediating effect. Employment protects women against certain negative aspects of being full-time homemakers and mothers, such as monotonous housework, dependence on the male partner for financial and emotional support, increases self-esteem because they are contributing to the world they live in. These women receive a renewed interest in life because they are in the thick of it. They are living life to the fullest. This model is the one that is constantly referred to as â€Å"bad† because it paints the woman as someone who does not really care about the effect of working will have on the baby. In fact, most of these mothers have made this choice with painstaking care. They are constantly feeling what everyone is thinking, and this in turn causes undue stress on these mothers. The other model of the working mom is the one most people think of when discussing working mothers. This model is one of a woman having too many demands of her housewife, mother and paid employee - which may lead to role strain due to fatigue and role overload. The competing demands of such roles may also lead to conflict ... Free Essays on Working Mothers Free Essays on Working Mothers Many women today are facing choices that their mothers never had to face. One of these choices is whether or not to go back to work after having a child. This was practically unheard of in the 1950's. In the 1990's it is not whether the mother will or will not go back to work, rather a question of when. When did the choice become set in stone? Why do the mothers of today have to work outside the home versus working in the home, much like their mothers did. When one thinks of the subject of working mothers, many differing opinions come to mind. What will happen to the child, will the mother have sufficient time to bond with the baby, how will household chores be divided, and so on. When thinking of working women, two models come to mind. One of which is paid employment that has a protective and beneficial mediating effect. Employment protects women against certain negative aspects of being full-time homemakers and mothers, such as monotonous housework, dependence on the male partner for financial and emotional support, increases self-esteem because they are contributing to the world they live in. These women receive a renewed interest in life because they are in the thick of it. They are living life to the fullest. This model is the one that is constantly referred to as â€Å"bad† because it paints the woman as someone who does not really care about the effect of working will have on the baby. In fact, most of these mothers have made this choice with painstaking care. They are constantly feeling what everyone is thinking, and this in turn causes undue stress on these mothers. The other model of the working mom is the one most people think of when discussing working mothers. This model is one of a woman having too many demands of her housewife, mother and paid employee - which may lead to role strain due to fatigue and role overload. The competing demands of such roles may also lead to conflict ...

Gilgimesh essays

Gilgimesh essays Mesopotamias Religious Activities With Mesopotamian civilization dating back as far as 3500 B. C. E. the typical resident exhibited many qualities. However, their main qualities were based on religion. The book, The Epic of Gilgimesh describes how religion played a very important role in the Mesopotamian society. They thought that humans were put onto this earth in order to serve God. Religion was the relevance of their apparent Mesopotamian religion in The Epic of Gilgimesh when it described the great flood. Religion was an important part of their everyday life. The Mesopotamians were Polytheistic, which means they had many gods. Their gods were thought to have control over nature and the environment around them. People saw the gods as having human characteristics. The Epic of Gilgamesh relates to the polytheistic belief because there are many human like gods that are described in the story. Since the presence of their gods were so closely felt people would build temples for them. "Priest became full-time specialists, running the temples and performing the astronomical calculations of the dates for normal flooding, which were needed to manage the irrigation systems." (Stearns, 33) Citizens of Mesopotamia would also visit those temples and leave food and gifts. They believed that the food and gifts would please the gods and grant themselves good fortune. This shows what a major part religion played in Mesopotamian life. We know from many ancient Mesopotamian sources, in Sumerian and in Akkadian, that the Babylonians believed the purpose of the human race to be the service of the gods. (Gilgamesh xxxvii) Before humans ever existed Gods use to have to plant and field their own food and perform all the labor. The Gods would dig rivers and waterways in order to irrigate the fields. Even the rivers Tigris and Euphrates were their work. (Gilgamesh xxxvii) The Gods grew tired of always ...

General Rule for Nationals of Member States Case Study

General Rule for Nationals of Member States - Case Study Example The public policy, security and health derogations are given a narrow scope and are determined by the ECJ and secondary legislation. Directive 64/2212 provides for the issuing of directives to coordinate these measures. The directive applies to the employed, self-employed and their families, recipients of services, retired persons and students, but not to companies. All the main provisions are directly effective. The derogations are concerned with the specific characteristics of particular persons. The limit to the exercise and scope of the derogations are set by community law with regard to non-discrimination, proportionality, protection for fundamental rights and the various safeguards in Directive 64/221.3 Directive 64/221 seeks to coordinate all measures relating to entry and deportation from member state territories including the issue and/or renewal of residence permits which can be adopted on grounds of public policy, security, health. Member States are free to determine the scope of these concepts on the basis of their national legislation and case law but within the framework of Community law. Specifically, member states cannot plead the need to derogate from Directive 64/221 in order to service economic ends4 such as high unemployment. However, any measures taken on grounds of public policy, public security or public health must be justified by a real and sufficiently serious threat to a fundamental interest of society and must be in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and with the proportionality principle.

The Legitimacy Question Surrounding the Death Penalty Research Paper - 1

The Legitimacy Question Surrounding the Death Penalty - Research Paper Example The literature on the topic of the death penalty reflects the polar nature of the debate, but oddly, both sides utilize statistics to support their respective positions. This is odd because the clichà © â€Å"statistics don’t lie† does not seem to apply. However, primarily, the problem is how both sides use their statistics. An argument such as â€Å"death penalty deters future murders†, after all, cannot both be true and be false at the same time. However, a quick glance at the literature shows it is indeed possible for both a claim and its negation to find statistical support. Additionally, research is often done into the statistics of death penalty with a specific argument in mind. For instance, two very important articles in the history of the debate try to give an answer to whether there is a racial bias against certain minorities in how the death penalty is handled.   The first article was written by Isaac Ehrlich and published in 1975 dealing primarily with the deterrent effect of the death penalty. In it, he remarks that the deterrent argument against the death penalty is one of many arguments put favor in support of the practice: namely, that the thought the death penalty will make a potential killer â€Å"think twice† about committing a violent crime. This is an â€Å"economic† approach and defense to murder, which justifies the incentive-based approach Ehrlich takes in analyzing the deterrence effect. The model he creates is designed to represent an economic model of murder to test against available data for validation. The model he creates is designed to represent an economic model of murder to test against available data for validation. The model he generates during the course of his article analyzes earning opportunities, employment, the probability of apprehension, the probability of conviction, and frequency of violent crim e against actual violent crime rates.