Queen Nefertari Essay

Queen Nefertari was the wife of Ramses II- the longest ruling pharaoh who reigned in the 19th Dynasty (1295-1255 B. C. ) which was from the 13th to 14th century and he continued to rule on on for seventy years. She married Ramses at the age of thirteen. Nefertari was also one of his many and favorite wives. She produced as many as ten children for Ramses among them two sons named Amonhirwonmef, Prehirwonmef, and two daughters named Merytamon and Mertatum. Her birth parents remain a mystery but it is determined that she is of royal heritage. Nefertari had a brother by the name of Amenmose who was the mayor of Thebes during her rule as queen. She was of high importance and because most portraits or pictures painted by ancient Egyptians are with Ramses II, this may mean she might’ve had a major political influence on Egypt. Queen Nefertari was not the only queen present during the rule of Ramses II, he had a household filled with many queens. His children were estimated at one hundred or more. Nefertari’s disappearance still is considered as a mystery although her tomb has been found and remains a precious treasure to Egypt. It is located in The Valley of the Queens. Ramses referred to Queen Nefertari as the â€Å"most beautiful one† which is one of her many names she is known by. Nefertari Mery-en-Mut name meant â€Å"most beautiful beloved of the goddess Mut. † Her full range of titles were â€Å"Great of praise†, â€Å"Sweet of love†, â€Å"Great royal wife†, â€Å"Lady of charm†, â€Å"Great royal wife, his beloved†, â€Å"Lady of the two lands†, â€Å"Lady of all lands†, â€Å"Wife of strong bull†, â€Å"God’s wife†, â€Å"Lady of upper and lower Egypt. Ramses also referred to his wife as â€Å"The one for whom the sun shines. † Nefertari married Ramses at the tender age of thirteen. Although very young she held the responsibility of being queen very well, going even as far as accompanying Ramses on one or two of his battles. It is said that Nefertari is of royal heritage, but her birth parents remain a mystery. Some Egyptologists think that she was probably the daughter of King Seti I, and thus sister or half sister of Ramses II himself. Other Egyptologists, however, think that her designation as â€Å"Hereditary Princess† might be in some way connected with her being representative of Thebais. The tomb of Queen Nefertari was discovered in 1904 and forbidden to take pictures of. More than 50 tombs mention her name. Nefertari out lived her husband by a number of years which her mummy indicates sh died around 70 years of age. She passed away sometime during Ramses 25 reigned year. After her death Isetnofret became his new principal wife. Queen Nefertari became royal at the age of thirteen and since then she has always been known for that and her beauty.

Case Vignettes in Acid-Base Balance Essay

Choose three of the four vignettes and BRIEFLY answer the questions that follow. Normal Levels of Substances in the Arterial Blood: pH 7.40 + 0.05 pCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide) 40 mm Hg pO2 (partial pressure of oxygen) 90 – 100 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 94 – 100 % [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Vignette #1: A 14-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis has complained of an increased cough productive of green sputum over the last week. She also complained of being increasingly short of breath, and she is noticeably wheezing on physical examination. Arterial blood was drawn and sampled, revealing the following values: pH 7.30 pCO2 50 mm Hg pO2 55 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 45 % [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Questions: 1. How would you classify this girl’s acid-base status? 2. How does cystic fibrosis cause this acid-base imbalance? 3. How would the kidneys try to compensate for the girl’s acid-base imbalance? 4. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance. Vignette #2:  A 76-year-old man complained to his wife of severe sub-sternal chest pains that radiated down the inside of his left arm. Shortly afterward, he collapsed on the living room floor. Paramedics arriving at his house just minutes later found him unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse. CPR and electroconvulsive shock were required to start his heart beating  again. Upon arrival at the Emergency Room, the man started to regain consciousness, complaining of severe shortness of breath (dyspnea) and continued chest pain. On physical examination, his vital signs were as follows: Systemic blood 85 mm Hg / 50 mm pressure Hg Heart rate 175 beats / minute Respiratory rate 32 breaths / minute Temperature 99.2o F His breathing was labored, his pulses were rapid and weak everywhere, and his skin was cold and clammy. An ECG was done, revealing significant â€Å"Q† waves in most of the leads. Blood testing revealed markedly elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels of cardiac muscle origin. Arterial blood was sampled and revealed the following: pH 7.22 pCO2 30 mm Hg pO2 70 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 88 % [HCO3-] 2 meq / liter Questions: 5. What is the diagnosis? What evidence supports your diagnosis? 6. How would you classify his acid-base status? What specifically caused this acidbase disturbance? 7. How has his body started to compensate for this acid-base disturbance? 8. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance. Vignette #3: An elderly gentleman is in a coma after suffering a severe stroke. He is in the intensive care unit and has been placed on a ventilator. Arterial blood gas measurements from the patient reveal the following: pH 7.50 pCO2 30 mm Hg pO2 100 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 98% [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Questions: 9. How would you classify this patient’s acid-base status? 10. How does this patient’s hyperventilation pattern raise the pH of the blood? 11. How might the kidneys respond to this acid-base disturbance? 12. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance.

Importance of International Finance

International Financial Management is unique primarily because the firm must deal in more than its own currency. [2] A multinational is a corporation that has operations in more than one country. [3] It is also called an International Corporation. It ordinarily consists of 1 parent company and about 6 foreign subsidiaries, typically with a high degree of strategic intervention between them. E. G. The Coca Cola Company is a multinational company, selling in more than 200 countries and having net sales of $7169 million in the 1st quarter of 2009. 4] Financial advantages of foreign operations An overseas market provides a larger market and thus, a potential increase in the sales of the firm's products. For some corporations, it might mean a fall in production costs if their opening a subsidiary in a country that offers cheap labor, raw materials or machinery. Also, instead of only exporting goods to other nations, once an NC starts operations in another country, the risk of detrimental laws restricting the sales of their products as well as an increase in the tax on their products, decreases considerably.Exchange rates and their effects An exchange rate is the expression of the value of one currency in terms of another amounts currency. [5] There are two ways of expressing this value: 1. Direct quotation: Domestic Currency / Foreign Currency 2. Indirect quotation: Foreign Currency/ Domestic currency The two methods are different ways of expressing the same thing. Throughout the project, ERE is quoted in direct quotation. Banks in most countries use a system of Foreign Exchange Market and its Fluctuations The volume of international transactions has grown considerably in the past 50-70 years.Trade and investment of this magnitude would be impossible without the ability to buy and sell currencies. The latter must be done for one currency is not the acceptable means of payment in all countries engaged in trade. The foreign exchange market is one of the largest in the world which facilitates the buying and selling of currencies, whose price is determined by the ERE. The market is over-the- counter, I. E. Trade is carried out using computer terminals, telephones, telecoms devices and SWIFT; an international banking communications network that electronically links brokers and traders.It is not confined to any one country but is dispersed throughout the leading financial centers of the world. Participants The major participants are large commercial banks that trade with one another, channeling most currency transactions through the worldwide interbrain market. Their transactions are conducted through foreign exchange brokers, who specialize in matching net supplier and demander banks. The brokers charge a brokerage fee and in return, offer anonymity to both parties and minimize the contact of banks with other traders.Small banks and local offices of major banks have lines of credit with large banks or with the home office. Customers deal with the b ank, which then makes use of the line of credit. Other players are brokers, international money centre banks, central banks of many countries, portfolio managers, foreign exchange brokers, hedgers, traders and speculators. Another actor in the market is the arbitrageur, who seeks to earn risk-free profit by taking advantage of difference in interest rates between countries and make use of forward contracts to eliminate ERE risk.If the value of home currency A decreases relative to the value of currency B, A is a weakening or depreciating currency and B is a strengthening or appreciating currency. ERE quoted indirectly will fall. For the importers of country A, ore of their home currency is required to purchase goods of country B. The vice versa is true for country B. Therefore, the attractiveness of a country's goods and services abroad is Judged by the relative values of the currencies of the importing and exporting countries. Types of Transactions 1 .

How would you suggest this should be done Are any of these subsystems Assignment

How would you suggest this should be done Are any of these subsystems more or less important than any others - Assignment Example For example, it will be impossible to attain the mission of an organization without having a clear vision and/ or objective. Examples of subsystems within organizations include goals and values subsystem, human resources subsystems, information and intelligence subsystem, technical subsystem, managerial subsystem and structural subsystem. According to Baskerville and Spagnoletti (2013), the continual interaction between various subsystems creates a pattern that specify what the main system looks like and therefore, it is impossible to gauge the main organizational system by over passing a particular subsystem since the main system relies on interdependent sub-systems. Therefore, when trying to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an organization it is a must for all the subsystems to be considered since an organizational is a functional unit that can only operate smoothly with the co-operation and co-ordination of various subsystems which are interdependent to each other. This is to mean that no sub-system is more or less important than the other since an organization cannot operate without a single subsystem missing and hence the evaluation should consider the strengths and weakness of each subsystem in the

Loke (second treatiseof government, and machiavelli Essay

Loke (second treatiseof government, and machiavelli - Essay Example In a nutshell, emergency involves making preparations before an event. Emergency planning also aims at creating preparedness (Perry 7). It has an influence on response and recovery. Emergency plans guide operational decisions during the management of agent-generated and response-generated demands (Phelan, 2008). On the other hand, emergency operations majorly focus on performance (Phelan 16). Such operations require the use of a set of guidelines presented in terms of a plan. Every decision made during an emergency operation should be based on the guidelines outlined in the plan guide. The success of emergency operations depends on the availability of resources for use and frequent assessment of demands by responders as needs arise. Responders must be alert in order to identify any arising demands and should be creative when addressing such demands. The success of emergency operations also relies on the use of pre-event lists checklists. However, such checklists do not guarantee maxi mum success. Personnel must improvise them in order to achieve higher accomplishments. Actions taken by response personnel and emergency managers are what constitute an emergency operation. 2. Planning Process It is noted with concern that the emergency planning process is more important than the emergency plan itself. Emergency planning ensures that communities achieve disaster preparedness. As a process planning involves consultation, training, equipping, and critiques (Perry 28). The end result of such a process is an improvement in the ability of a community to handle risks. A significant number of individuals think that written plans are used in defining preparedness. I agree with such a line of thinking but the same people should be careful not to equate a plan with preparedness. The process is more important than the plan because it is practical. The plan is only but a picture presentation of the planning process at a specific time and does not guarantee the presence of a haz ard. On the other hand, the process of emergency planning involves practical steps such as ongoing monitoring, personnel training, and system exercising hence providing a definition for preparedness. It is important that organizations and jurisdictions adopt a continuous planning process because preparedness is dynamic in nature. Such a process should include continual monitoring of the environment so as to identify threats and discover new technology that can be used in handling such threats. Resources, threats, and even organizational structure may change over time. Moreover, lack of continuous training may result in the disappearing of performance skills. Such eventualities can only be addressed by ensuring that organization and jurisdictions establish a continuous emergency planning process. Despite the usefulness of the emergency planning process, the process may face some resistance. One main reason for such resistance is apathy. Apathy arises when individuals do not like to t hink about disasters (Phelan 22). Therefore, they develop the idea that emergency planning takes resources hence they end up not supporting the process of emergency planning. 3. Preparedness Exercises Organizations and j

Why 70s generated and accepted new definitions for family structures Essay

Why 70s generated and accepted new definitions for family structures and gender roles - Essay Example This meant that even servants were part of the family (Ellwood and Christopher, 34). In the present structure, even the non-parental adults qualify as family members as long as they are actively involved in the upbringing of the children of others. The implication of this is that there is no universal definition of family. One of the reasons is the fact that the family has evolved over the years. In the middle ages, the nuclear family was the most common family setup. Ideally, a nuclear family consisted of the father, the mother and the children. However, there were some instances around the same time where sets of nuclear families resided together. The family in the United States has also seen a high degree of evolution. The evolution was mainly as a result of the changing perceptions in the culture of marriage starting from as early as the 18th century (Furstenberg, 34). Most views on family change are usually not representative of the facts on the ground. For instance, there has been a general increase in single-parent situations since the 1970s. This is mainly attributed to out of wedlock and fatherless children. The American society largely views the changes in gender roles as well as the new family definitions to be mainly caused by three factors namely, economic factors, development factors and last but not least, moral factors (Furstenberg, 40). The economic problems of single motherhood are mainly stemmed in the fact that very few single moms can actually get a good wage. In addition to this, they have to juggle between their professional deities as well as their role of upbringing their children. This ultimately reduces the amount of money they make at the end of a typical month. The government often offers some financial support to single mothers but the money is not usually substantial. These are the main reasons why the issue of

Business Management And Leadership - Controlling (U5DB) Essay

Business Management And Leadership - Controlling (U5DB) - Essay Example It may include whatever actions a business deems necessary to provide for the control and verification of certain characteristics of a product or service. The basic goal of quality control is to ensure that the products, services, or processes provided meet specific requirements and are dependable, satisfactory, and fiscally sound† (WiseGeek, 2008). The basic idea that lies behind the concept of quality control is to continuously ensure that the best products and services possible are being produced by an organization. It is difficult to choose between these two particular management processes, as they are not mutually exclusive. It is indeed possible to perform both functions at once within an organization. However, if forced to choose between the two, I would pick continuous improvement, as that process involves quality control by the very nature of its design. Continuously striving to improve processes before a large problem develops will involve taking a serious look at production processes that include functions such as quality

The Software Development Lifecycle Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Software Development Lifecycle - Assignment Example The growth rate for emerging innovations in this field is functioning on its peak. In this article use of Information technology (IT) is elaborated through a real word example that maintain collage data in excel sheets, which is better than traditional paper work. But still need improvement and required to merge up in a database of access and get more benefit from Information technology (IT) features. The database is designed and discussed in the article. Database maintains the data in organized manner. Provide the facility to create quick and easy reports, show many kinds of relationships among tables. All these features are useful for effective management of collage essential information. Social and organizations are grown up due to the great benefits of Information technology (IT). The use of Information technology (IT) is at its peak in all fields of life. Education is almost dependent on the internet and a computer system that is again comes under the subject of Information technology (University of Waterloo, 2014). Another use of information systems and information technology within the field of project management is a useful feature for organizations. Specific systems are designed to deal with project management using computer and internet technology. These systems have decision making feature that is highly recommended for managers within an organization. The numbers of organizations use the internet and social media for promotion of new products. Information technology is being used for marketing purpose by the different organizations. Information technology approach targets customers directly and quickly through the internet technology (Canielsa & Bakensc, 2012). The information technology plays vital role for innovations for children’s. The children use to play games of computer systems, on internet, and improve their

The Hague Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Hague Rules - Essay Example The Hague Rules radically changed the legal status of sea carriers under the bill of lading. Again in 1963 CMI adopted the text of a draft document which was intended to make limited amendments to the 1924 convention which was considered at 12th Session of the Brussels Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law in 1967 and 1968. The Protocol was signed in this respect on 23 February 1968 at Visby on the Swedish Island and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 was passed by the UK Government with effect to the protocol and re-enacted Hague Rules and Hague Visby Rules. (Martin Dockray and Katherine Reece Thomas, 2004) The Hague Rules were adopted in 1924, The Hague/Visby Rules in 1968 and 1979 and the Hamburg Rules in 1978. Each international convention in turn attempted to broaden its application in order to avoid lacunae, to encompass all contracts of carriage as well as bills of lading, and to permit incorporation by reference.2 The accepted international standard of the rights and duties of a Carrier, Shipper and consignee of goods carried by sea is the Hague Rules Convention of 1924 which has been given the force of law by most maritime nations.(Richard Price and Andreas Haberbeck, 1986)3 The general principle regarding the application of The Hague Rul... ect to the provisions of Article 6, under every contract of carriage of goods by sea the carrier, in relation to the loading, handling, stowage, carriage, custody, care and discharge of such goods, shall be subject to the responsibilities and liabilities, and entitled to the rights and immunities hereinafter set forth."4 Art. 1(b) -'Contract of carriage' applies only to contracts of carriage covered by a bill of lading or any similar document of title, in so far as such document relates to the carriage of goods by sea, including any bill of lading or any similar document as aforesaid issued under or pursuant to a charter party from the moment at which such bill of lading or similar document of title regulates the relations between a carrier and a holder of the same."5 The most important obligations under Hague or Hague Visby Rules are those imposed by Art. III6 Rule 1 (a) and (b) which requires the carrier to exercise due diligence to make the ship seaworthy and to properly man, equip and supply the ship before and at the beginning of the voyage. (Simon Gault et al, 2003) There were some initial problems in the proper implementation of Hague Rules as seen in Vita Food Products Inc V Unus Shipping Co. Ltd, where Herrings were shipped in Newfoundland under bills of lading of the Newfoundland Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1932 which stated that bill of lading 'shall contain an express statement that it is to have effect subject to the provisions of the Hague Rules as expressed in this Act' and also provided exemption from liability for master's negligence in navigation which exemption was also part of the Hague Rules. The Hague Rules further provided that any clause or agreement in the bills of lading relieving the carrier from liability for negligen ce imposed by the

Dominos Pizza Essay Example for Free

Dominos Pizza Essay Domino’s Pizza experienced a decrease in revenue of 16. 3% from year-end 2005 through the year-end 2009. It is true that the economic recession was partly at blame. However, the enterprise suffered from a negative reputation in the marketplace. Domino’s Pizza delivered pizzas that did not quite meet the demands of consumer taste. Their costumers would use social media to protest the ill delivery of pizzas and terrible taste. In addition, consumers were now more educated about their eating habits and had a growing concern with diets that led to obesity. Moreover, these facts combined with competition including companies such as Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, posed a hostile environment for Domino’s Pizza. In order to overcome these pitfalls, Domino’s pizza not only introduced a new recipe but also launched one of the riskiest advertising campaigns to this day. The recipe was a reinvention of their pizza with new ingredients that improved flavor. The advertising campaign oh yes we did guaranteed customer satisfaction otherwise they would return their money and deliver another pizza free. Another aspect of this marvelous campaign was the use of real life costumers who participated in the making of the pizza in televised commercials. Here is a comparison between pre-2009 strategies with its new approach. And, some qualities that were engaged to implement the revised strategies. Pre-2009 ?Dominos was focused on producing pizza for as cheap as possible. ?Cost leader ?8. 35% of pizzas sold in U. S ?Second behind Pizza Hut 13. 7% ?Bad rep for poor quality pizza ?Worst tasting pizza in its industry ?Market share fell 2% from 2005-2009 Post 2009 ?â€Å"Oh Ye We Did Campaign†? Dominos renewed focus on â€Å" Better ingredients, Better Pizza† and a broader menu. ?Focused on improving taste of its pizza ?Added garlic and butter to crust ?Added new side dishes and desserts ?Match competitors taste ?Expanded overall product choices Leadership ?David Brandon – C. E. O ?Innovate products ?Expand brand scope ?Everything on the menu is heavily tested and demanded by our customer ?All menu items are integrated ?â€Å"Get the door, Its Dominos† – Industry leader in efficiency ?Gathered feedback from employees ?â€Å"whats up dominos? † ?â€Å"Lunch with Dave†? Brandon would learned a lot from his employees ?Unique leadership style ?Always looking to improve even when successful Domino’s sales distribution is both domestic and internationally. The company gets 53 percent of its sales domestically and 47 percent internationally. In 2010, domestic sales were $3. 3 billion and internationally it was $2. 95 billion. Not only did fiscal year 2010 revenues show a healthy return, but cost of sales decreased by 3. 25 percent between fiscal year 2008 and 2010. Domino’s showed a very big decrease in its sales because the consumers were concerned about the quality of the pizza that dominos offered compare to the other companies in the industry. 2005 was the peak of the company where it made the most net income, since then revenues have been declining. Revenue declines aside, due to interest, repurchasing of stock, and other financial implications, after a 65 percent fall from 2006 to 2007, net income increased over the last four years. Domino’s current strategy is working well in the sense of income and revenue wise. The Net income increase was $37. 9 million in 2007, $54. 0 million in 2008, $79. 8 million in 2009, and $87. 9 million in 2010, which is annual increases of 42. 5 percent, 47. 7 percent, and 10. 25 percent respectively. The result of the revenue increase also helped eliminate debt from 2007 to 2010 from when they took a big decrease in sales and popularity from 2006 to 2007. By 2010, Domino’s became the leading pizza company in the industry; it had higher revenue and a higher net income than the leading Papa Johns. On the other hand, Dominos is only leading in revenue because it has more locations than the other pizza stores do. Compared to Papa Johns in 2010, Dominos has 9300 stores worldwide, while Papa John’s has only half of that with 3,600 worldwide. Dominos generates $170,000 per store and Papa John’s generates $313,000 per store. Dominos needs to focus on creating more revenue per store so they can provide better value to their shareholders. Taking on a better strategic approach by introducing new items to the menu and increasing the quality of the pizza did help the company get back on track from when it took the fall in 2007. The most recent year 2014, revenues almost doubled than it did in 2013 with a revenue of 589 million in 2014 and 295 million in 2013. Dominos have increased over the last six years in revenues, net income, and Earnings Per Share. Based on these numbers, the company has executed a good strategic plan. We one of most important thing any food establishment should do listen to what their consumers want. They have look into what feedback their consumers are giving them and then have a quick response to consumer’s feedback. A food chain can have all the technology in the world but if they don’t know what their consumers want they will never grow.

Economic Governance for Crisis Prevention

Economic Governance for Crisis Prevention 1.0 INTRODUCTION The proposed research attempts to identify the critical components of economic governance in four Asian countries namely Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. The study by employing in-depth case study analysis seeks to analyze the economic governance practices in these countries and its relationship to their economic growths. The study then attempts to investigate the links between economic governance and the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and the roles the economic governance could have played in the recovery process since the above countries had somehow recovered at somewhat different speed. Based on the identified components of economic governance considered imperative for sustainable and resilient economy, the study will develop an index namely Economic Governance Quality Index capturing the score of governance parameters by the countries during the booms and slumps of their economies throughout the period under study. Finally, the components of economic governance wil l be employed in panel data analysis to empirically determine their significance towards economic growth. Its findings then will be of significance in crisis prediction and prevention methods in which the identified key governance parameters are the core ingredients. 2.0 BACKGROUND Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations. The concept of governance has assumed a more central focus and been given key attention not only by the officials from the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and the International Monetary Funds, but also from the policymakers in especially developing countries, aids donors, and regional organizations of economic cooperation as well as academics fraternity. Since the beginning of 1990s, there is a strong indication of growing emphasis that good governance, together with democracy and protection of basic human rights, is indispensable for sustainable economic growth. Economic development cannot be achieved without the development of good governance, which is composed of competence and honesty, public accountability, and broader participation in discussion and decision making on central issues. In addition to traditional view of governance which is on the public governance, there is also a notable increase in the endeavors to grasp the concept of governance in a multi-d imensional perspective which includes economic governance. The relationship between governance and development is thus studied from diverse angles, especially in the vein of economic transformation, macroeconomic management and prevention of crisis as well as structural reforms. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 had somehow exposed the vulnerability of the once high-performing countries in the region, whose lack of governance practices was said as the main cause of the severe affects. 3.0 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The Asian economies success was once dubbed the Asian Miracle, and a model to be emulated by other developing countries seeking higher growth. The success had introduced a growth model with emphasis on policies of setting the prices right, liberalizing the economy and the private sector as the engine of growth. When financial crisis struck the Asian countries in 1997, and looking at the devastating effects the countries in the region had experienced following the malaise, many however started to raise questions whether the quality of governance practices in these countries had somehow contributed to the crisis. Furthermore, the fact that South Korea and Malaysia had somehow recovered rapidly from the crisis compared to Indonesia and Thailand has sparked off interests on what roles good governance could have played in the recovery process. Hence, good governance has become a topic widely studied in the aftermath of the crisis. The discussions center on two main perspectives; firstly, the absence of good governance has been perceived as a MAJOR CAUSE of the crisis, and secondly, an inference is made that good governance is IMPERATIVE for durable and resilient economy. This study hence sets out to empirically identify and ascertain the governance parameters and their significance towards crisis prevention. Since the study focuses on economic governance, and to avoid constant repetition, the word governance used in this proposal should be taken in the context of economic point of view, unless explicit reference to other perspective of governance is relevant. 4.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study will attempt to answer the following questions: What are the economic governance parameters presumed as crucially importance for sustainable and resilient economy? How to capture the score of economic governance practices in the East Asian countries during the period under study? How would the significance of governance parameters be empirically ascertained for the purpose of crisis prediction and prevention? 5.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The study hypothesized that good governance is imperative for sustainable and resilient economy, and the absence of such would result in increased vulnerability of the economy towards declining into crisis. Therefore, the objectives of the study are: To identify the parameters of economic governance crucial for resilient and sustainable economy. To develop an index of Economic Governance Quality capturing the score of economic governance practices by the East Asian countries during the period under study. To empirically ascertain the significance of economic governance parameters towards growth via a dynamic estimation model whose findings then would be of importance for crisis prediction and prevention. 6.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY It would be interesting to investigate what makes good governance and how do they link to economic growth in the four selected Asian countries. Furthermore, it would be crucially important to examine, from the governance perspective, how could the countries once considered by many as the fastest growing economies in the region were severely affected by the Asian crisis in 1997. Notwithstanding that, the fact that South Korea and Malaysia had made a more swift recovery than the other affected countries, it would therefore be interesting to analyze how the governance practices in the different countries facilitated the recovery process. The findings from this study are expected to provide a significant contribution to the existing governance literatures especially from the economic perspective since it attempts to discover the critical components of economic governance that are imperative for sustainable and resilient economy. Policy makers not only from the countries under study but also from other developing countries may utilize the findings of the study to evaluate their economic governance practices and be able therefore to make necessary adjustments and required changes with the objectives of registering better growth and strengthening the economy against any possibility of future crisis. The researchers from world organizations and academic community may also be interested with the findings since the study attempts to develop a new feasible dynamic estimation model to analyze the relationship between the components of economic governance and growth, of which they could use as a basis for their future research undertaking in the similar field. In addition, the findings could also stimulate and facilitate them to search for additional approaches to counter or justify the results of this study. 7.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Good governance has become a topic widely debated by academicians and economic communities especially in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1997. The discussions in this context center on two main perspectives; first, the absence of good governance has been perceived as a major cause of the crisis, and the second prognosis is drawn by inference, namely, that good governance is imperative for durable development (Lam, 2003). Therefore, to have a better understanding of the governance, this section discusses definitions and indicators of the governance, its relationship with the economic growth, how it links to the crisis and its roles in the recovery process, and finally how could these governance factors be used for crisis prevention. 7.1 Definitions and indicators of governance Definitions and indicators of governance can be found in numerous literatures. A top-down approach is best used to understand the concept of governance, where a general or broad definition of governance will be firstly explored before moving on to a more specific definition. The World Bank continuously updates key governance indicators in its regular publication of Governance Matters, a governance study encompassing many aspects like political, social, economic, legal and moral. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Funds (IMF) has been doing a great deal of works in an effort to promote governance in the financial sector management through Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs) which include regulatory, risk management and aid management. 7.1.1 Broad definition of governance From the viewpoint of United Nations Development Program (1997), the definition of governance is the exercise of economic, political administrative authority to manage a countrys affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligation and mediate their differences. Good governance is, among other things, participatory, transparent and accountable, effective and equitable, and it promotes the rule of law. It ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision-making over the allocation of development resources (Abdellatif, 2003). In its report, Governance and Sustainable Human Development in 1997, the UNDP acknowledges the following as core characteristics of good governance, i.e. participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, accountability, and strategic vision. A report by the World Bank (2006) entitled Governance Matters V covering 213 countries and territories since 1996 until 2005, presented the latest version of the worldwide governance indicators, namely voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption. Meanwhile, Inada (2003) discussed the governance in Indonesia where the word governance is translated as Tata Pemerintahan. It however has different meanings covering different agendas from political systems to corporate governance. They includes political democratization, reorganization of police and the military, curing the problems of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN), justice reform system, decentralization, financial management, corporate governance, and state-owned enterprise reforms. Shimomura (2003) in his case study of governance in Thailand adopted pluralist democracy, accountability, transparency, predictability, and openness in the manner of exercising power, rule of law, effective and efficient public sector management, prevention of corruption, and prevention of excessive military expenditures as the standard definition of good governance. 7.1.2 Governance from economic perspective According to Dixit (2006), economic governance consists of the processes that support economic activities and economic transactions by protecting property rights, enforcing contracts, and taking collective actions to provide appropriate physical and organizational infrastructure. These processes are carried out within institutions, formal and informal. He described that the field of economic governance studies and compares the performance of different institutions under different conditions, the evolution of these institutions, and the transitions from one set of institution to another. Meanwhile, Huther Shah (1998), Gonzalez Mendoza (2001) and Mahani (2003) defined governance as a multi-faceted concept, encompassing all aspects of the exercise of authority through both formal and informal institutions in the management of resources. In other words, governance is: An exercise of economic power in the management of resource endowment of a country done through mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups can articulate their interest, exercise legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. According to Mahani (2003), indicators of economic governance are: Macroeconomic management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" fiscal management, level of government debt, unemployment and inflation. Investment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" size and trend of foreign and domestic investments, capital flows and allocation of resources. Trade regime à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" trade orientation, export and import performance and balance of payment position. Financial sector management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the banking sector and capital market. Exchange rate regime. Private sector participation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" privatization and corporate governance. Social development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" income distribution and level of poverty. Lanyi Lee (1999) studied on various aspects of economic governance, that is, the way in which economic life is governed and regulated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" which does not mean solely governance by the government. They first discussed the political basis of economic governance which is in their view crucial for the way in which different aspects of economic governance operate. The other aspects include the governance of macroeconomic policy making, and the interrelated issues of financial and corporate governance. From political perspective, they argued that economic governance in a market economy consists partly of direct control or indirect influence exerted by the government and of governance exercised within markets themselves on the other part; but even self-governance by markets operates within the legal, judicial and regulatory framework that has been erected and is supported by the government. The optimum role of government in this context is market-augmenting government. Furthermore, they defined macroeconomic governance as the political and administrative processes by which macroeconomic policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. They argued that technically the same policies can be carried out with equal effectiveness by either an autocratic or a democratic government. An autocratic government, if supported by well-trained technocrats, is likely to come up with first-class macroeconomic governance. Nevertheless, there may be factors that over time lead to deterioration in the quality of these policies in an autocratic government, as well as problems in the ability of such governments to adjust policies in response to changes in economic circumstances. The working definition of governance used for financial and corporate governance depends on the key distinction between principals and agents. In this context, they defined governance as the legal and institutional arrangements governing the behavior of an economic entity, by which owners, creditors, markets and the government compel or induce agents to behave according to the interests of the principals, or those of the broader society. In this regard, two key elements of governance are discussed. First, there is the structure of incentives and rules facing agents with regard to such matters as granting and terminating lending, bankruptcy, the rights of boards of directors, compensation structure, and the termination of employment. Second, there is the structure of the information flow from agents to principals, that is, the rules and incentives affecting accountability, transparency and disclosure of information. In both cases, the government plays a key role in setting the rules by which private actors operate. Meanwhile, Das Quintyn (2002) in their study on the role of regulatory governance in crisis prevention and crisis management have identified four main components of the regulatory governance practices, namely independence, accountability, transparency and integrity. The study explored the quality of regulatory governance based on the financial system evaluations under the Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs). Introduced in May 1999, FSAPs is a joint effort by the IMF and World Bank aims to increase the effectiveness of efforts to promote the soundness of financial systems in member countries. Supported by experts from a range of national agencies and standard-setting bodies, works under the program seek to identify the strengths and vulnerabilities of a countrys financial system; to determine how key sources of risk are being managed; to ascertain the sectors developmental and technical assistance needs; and to help prioritize policy responses (IMF the World Bank, 2005). Regulatory governance applies to those institutions that possess legal powers to regulate, supervise and/or intervene in the financial sector, which include agencies like central bank, sectoral regulators and supervisors, deposit insurance agencies, and in systemic crisis situations, restructuring agencies and asset management companies. Regulatory agencies need a fair degree of independence from the political sphere and from the supervised entities to achieve good regulatory governance. Agency independence increases the possibility of making credible policy commitments and improves transparency and stability of the output. Independence goes hand in hand with accountability. Accountability is essential for the agency to justify its action against the background of the mandate given to it. Independent agents should be accountable not only to those who delegated the responsibility à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the government or legislature à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" but also to the public who fall under their functional realm. Transparency in monetary and financial policies refers to an environment in which objectives, frameworks, decisions, and their rationale, data and other information, as well as terms of accountability, are provided to the public in a comprehensive, accessible, and timely manner. Global integration of financial markets and products require greater degree of transparency in monetary and financial policies, and in regulatory regimes and processes, as a means of containing market uncertainty. Increased transparency supports accountability, protect the independence and eventually increase commitment to prudent behavior and risk control in the financial business. The final component of regulatory governance is integrity which reflects the mechanisms that ensure that staff of the agencies can pursue institutional goals of good regulatory governance without compromising them due to their own behavior, or self-interest. Independence, accountability, transparency and integrity interact and reinforce each other. Independence and accountability represent two sides of the same coin, while transparency is a vehicle for safeguarding independence and key instrument to make accountability work. Transparency also helps to establish and safeguard integrity. 7.2 Governance relationship with development and growth Economic governance is often studied through its role in the promotion of growth. This is done by setting policies, incentives and institutions that create an environment conducive to sustained stable growth through efficient management of a countrys resources. It means managing a countrys resources in a way that is accountable to, and representative of, the community; transparent, that is, open and predictable; and efficient and equitable in terms of the use, and distribution of, resources. Hence, good and effective governance requires government policies that encourage and efficiently manage investment and economic growth, support a fair and efficient public sector, strengthen the rule of law, protect human rights, and foster public participation and representation in decision making. Among the many studies that have examined the economic governance and growth nexus is such as that of Barro (1997). He studied the concept of growth based on the conditional convergence hypothesis which centers on the speed of economic growth in a country towards its steady-state level. He had empirically identified that more schooling, better health, lower fertility rate, less government consumption relative to GDP, greater adherence to uncorrupted rule of law, improvements in terms of trade changes, and lower inflation all go hand-in-hand with faster economic growth. Furthermore, he also explored on the interplay between economic and political development, and found that there is nonlinear relationship between democracy and growth. According to his findings, in countries with low levels of political freedom, a marginal increase in political freedom is associated with an acceleration in growth. However, at high levels of political freedom, a marginal increase in political freedom is associated with a slowing in growth. Huther Shah (1998) also studied the relationship between governance and growth and found that countries that practiced good governance have also enjoyed high growth. They developed a governance index featuring four sub-indices, i.e. citizen participation index (CP), government orientation index (GO), social development index (SD) and economic management index (EM) and each of the sub-indices has several components. For the Economic Management index, its components are outward orientation, central bank interdependence, and debt-to-GDP ratio which were used to assess trade policy, monetary policy and fiscal policy respectively. Gonzalez Mendoza (2001) argued that Southeast Asia provides ample evidence that there is a remarkable connection between administrative guidance and economic upturn. They compared the average growth rate of national output during the last decade against the quality of country governance and found that the high-performing economies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Singapore and Malaysia à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" have the edge in public management. Those left behind, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, have poor management structures. A study by Inada (2003) on Indonesia governance showed the importance of political stability and effective economic management as key elements for sustainable economic development among many governance factors. Bordo (2007) provides a good qualitative analysis on the possible determinant of emerging market crises from the perspective of balance sheet approach, which then put at center stage the importance of financial development. Though he never mention the word governance itself, he outlines the deep institutional determinants of financial development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" including the governance parameters such as the rule of law, protection of property rights, political stability, and representative democracy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" towards achieving financial stability. He further conjectures about the ways countries learn from their financial crises to improve their institutions and grow up to financial stability. 7.3 Governance link to crisis and roles in recovery process Lanyi Lee (1999) presented a strong case that governance issues were important in the East Asian crisis. They hypothesized that transparency and accountability in macroeconomic policymaking, in the operation of the financial system, and in corporate governance do serve to lessen a countrys vulnerability to financial crises and to strengthen the ability to deal with crises when they occur. They also hypothesized that a democratic political system, in which leaders are held accountable to their electorate by both direct election of the executive and an elected legislature à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" as well as by an independent judiciary and a free press and civil society à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" is less likely to collapse in the face of economic and financial difficulties than is a country run by an autocratic government, which imposes severe restraints on the public expression of opinion and dissemination of information. On the political basis of economic governance, they have suggested a hypothesis regarding the kind of political regimes likely to produce an effective, growth-enhancing, market-augmenting government. It is the type of political regime that is especially effective in the early stages of economic development may be less suited to fostering the creation of a full-fledged, sophisticated market economy at a later stage. They argued that there certainly seems to be some indications of this in the Asian experience, where authoritarian regimes fostered rapid growth when these economies were at relatively low income levels, but seems to be evolving toward more democratic models to deal with demands for greater market autonomy. They however suggested that even if a case can be made for the desirability of democratization as a market economy becomes more sophisticated, the varied historical examples warrant the need to find out more about the conditions under which either an autocratic or a democratic government can be market-augmenting, or not. They further highlighted that it would be useful to find historical examples of, and develop plausible scenarios for, the transition from discretionary (an autocratic government) to arms-length (a democratic government) approaches to state economic governance, and to define the most effective ways in which the international community might assist with this transition. Furthermore, they believed that empirical work on macroeconomic governance would need to tap into the huge literature on macroeconomic policies and their effect, and link existing work with variables that reveal the quality of governance. Unfortunately, such variables are hard to quantify; but perhaps a classification of regimes together with a classification of the way macroeconomic policy is organized, could yield ways of exploring the relationships between the political and administrative variables, on the one hand, and the more familiar economic variables on the other. In other words, it would be interesting to look how the macroeconomic policies are formulated, implemented and evaluated through the governance perspective, to understand whether adherence to, or lack of, the governance practices could influence the outcome of the macroeconomic policies, as well as to determine conditions that would lead to good quality policies which would eventually identify the appropriate type of market-augmenting government as the market economy progresses. Besides, they also made preliminary attempts to trace the relationship between empirical indicators of financial and corporate governance with some governance variables that have been developed by others. They however suggested that one needs to look more carefully, perhaps through case studies, at the realities of financial and corporate governance in particular cases and the linkage between indicators of these types of financial and corporate governance with the more carefully articulated classification of political regimes. Specifically with regard to the adjustment of most severely affected countries to the Asian crisis, they suggested that it would be interesting to examine the reasons why recovery in Korea has been more rapid than in the Indonesia and Thailand. Similarly, it would also be interesting to investigate Malaysias speedy recovery from the crisis even though the country did not subscribe to the IMF recovery prescriptions. Mahani (2003) highlighted that after the rapid recovery of the Asian economies in 1999, discussion of the causes of the crisis has been centered on the quality of economic governance in these economies. The East Asian economies success was at one time a model to be emulated by other developing countries, but after the 1997 financial turbulence, doubts were raised about the quality of economic governance in these Asian countries. Questions were raised whether the governance in these economies contributed to the crisis when countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea experienced sharp economic contraction during the crisis. She further highlighted that questions on the quality of governance centered on the issue whether or not the same economic governance that produced high growth also weakens the economies and makes them vulnerable to external shocks, whether the economic governance fails to avoid market failures in pursuing its high growth strategy, whether the conditions for good governance always the same irrespective of the stage of economic development, and whether the crony capitalism a result of the governance failure since it was among the widely acknowledged factors contributing to the crisis. To know whether economic governance had made the economy vulnerable to a crisis, it is crucially important to examine the causes of the crisis and to link them with the economic weak points. Was the crisis due to the imprudent economic management or due to external factors? Although external factors have been recognized as the key cause for the crisis, domestic shortcomings were also responsible for deepening or aggravating the impact of the crisis. Furthermore, Malaysias own crisis remedies and the rejection of the IMFs standard crisis solutions open the debate on what is good economic governance. She argued that the 1997 Asian experience showed the economic governance framework by the IMF and the World Bank has some weaknesses, namely unfettered short term capital flows, lack of long-term and broader macroeconomic objectives when growth is driven by the private sector, and minimal attention given to socioeconomic issues such as income distribution. The rapid recovery by Malaysia and Korea, which adopted different strategies shows that there are alternative ways to respond to a crisis, implying that there is also no single definition of economic governance. Policy flexibility arising from good economic governance before the crisis made it possible to Malaysia to take response measures specially tailored to its need and situation, and rejecting one-size-fits-all prescriptions by the IMF. 7.4 Governance roles in crisis prevention The rapid pace and spread of globalization pose stiff challenges to economic governance as new criteria and developments may impose a heavier governance burden on the government and economy. One of the biggest challenges is the increasingly volatile international flow of capital that makes economic governance much more difficult as economic fundamentals are not the only factors that determine performance. Global integration also limits the choice of measures that are available to a country in making its response. Yet good governance is essential for sustained economic growth. The challenge is to determine what good governance consists of under these changing conditions. Ever better economic management is called for, to preserve economic resilience and prevent external shocks from turning into crises. Thus, a close and critical evaluation of the new economic governance parameters and institutions is essential. 8.0 OVERVIEW ON THE STUDY OF GOVERNANCE 8.1 Development of the study of governance Inada (2003) outlined the development in the study of governance over the last 10 years which can be categorized into several types: Identifying factors of governance: what factors are the governance factors that affect the performance of the economies of developing countries? Example à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" World Bank (1992) documented such factors as accountability, transparency, predictable legal framework, efficiency of the public sector, etc. Categori Economic Governance for Crisis Prevention Economic Governance for Crisis Prevention 1.0 INTRODUCTION The proposed research attempts to identify the critical components of economic governance in four Asian countries namely Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. The study by employing in-depth case study analysis seeks to analyze the economic governance practices in these countries and its relationship to their economic growths. The study then attempts to investigate the links between economic governance and the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and the roles the economic governance could have played in the recovery process since the above countries had somehow recovered at somewhat different speed. Based on the identified components of economic governance considered imperative for sustainable and resilient economy, the study will develop an index namely Economic Governance Quality Index capturing the score of governance parameters by the countries during the booms and slumps of their economies throughout the period under study. Finally, the components of economic governance wil l be employed in panel data analysis to empirically determine their significance towards economic growth. Its findings then will be of significance in crisis prediction and prevention methods in which the identified key governance parameters are the core ingredients. 2.0 BACKGROUND Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations. The concept of governance has assumed a more central focus and been given key attention not only by the officials from the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and the International Monetary Funds, but also from the policymakers in especially developing countries, aids donors, and regional organizations of economic cooperation as well as academics fraternity. Since the beginning of 1990s, there is a strong indication of growing emphasis that good governance, together with democracy and protection of basic human rights, is indispensable for sustainable economic growth. Economic development cannot be achieved without the development of good governance, which is composed of competence and honesty, public accountability, and broader participation in discussion and decision making on central issues. In addition to traditional view of governance which is on the public governance, there is also a notable increase in the endeavors to grasp the concept of governance in a multi-d imensional perspective which includes economic governance. The relationship between governance and development is thus studied from diverse angles, especially in the vein of economic transformation, macroeconomic management and prevention of crisis as well as structural reforms. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 had somehow exposed the vulnerability of the once high-performing countries in the region, whose lack of governance practices was said as the main cause of the severe affects. 3.0 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The Asian economies success was once dubbed the Asian Miracle, and a model to be emulated by other developing countries seeking higher growth. The success had introduced a growth model with emphasis on policies of setting the prices right, liberalizing the economy and the private sector as the engine of growth. When financial crisis struck the Asian countries in 1997, and looking at the devastating effects the countries in the region had experienced following the malaise, many however started to raise questions whether the quality of governance practices in these countries had somehow contributed to the crisis. Furthermore, the fact that South Korea and Malaysia had somehow recovered rapidly from the crisis compared to Indonesia and Thailand has sparked off interests on what roles good governance could have played in the recovery process. Hence, good governance has become a topic widely studied in the aftermath of the crisis. The discussions center on two main perspectives; firstly, the absence of good governance has been perceived as a MAJOR CAUSE of the crisis, and secondly, an inference is made that good governance is IMPERATIVE for durable and resilient economy. This study hence sets out to empirically identify and ascertain the governance parameters and their significance towards crisis prevention. Since the study focuses on economic governance, and to avoid constant repetition, the word governance used in this proposal should be taken in the context of economic point of view, unless explicit reference to other perspective of governance is relevant. 4.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study will attempt to answer the following questions: What are the economic governance parameters presumed as crucially importance for sustainable and resilient economy? How to capture the score of economic governance practices in the East Asian countries during the period under study? How would the significance of governance parameters be empirically ascertained for the purpose of crisis prediction and prevention? 5.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The study hypothesized that good governance is imperative for sustainable and resilient economy, and the absence of such would result in increased vulnerability of the economy towards declining into crisis. Therefore, the objectives of the study are: To identify the parameters of economic governance crucial for resilient and sustainable economy. To develop an index of Economic Governance Quality capturing the score of economic governance practices by the East Asian countries during the period under study. To empirically ascertain the significance of economic governance parameters towards growth via a dynamic estimation model whose findings then would be of importance for crisis prediction and prevention. 6.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY It would be interesting to investigate what makes good governance and how do they link to economic growth in the four selected Asian countries. Furthermore, it would be crucially important to examine, from the governance perspective, how could the countries once considered by many as the fastest growing economies in the region were severely affected by the Asian crisis in 1997. Notwithstanding that, the fact that South Korea and Malaysia had made a more swift recovery than the other affected countries, it would therefore be interesting to analyze how the governance practices in the different countries facilitated the recovery process. The findings from this study are expected to provide a significant contribution to the existing governance literatures especially from the economic perspective since it attempts to discover the critical components of economic governance that are imperative for sustainable and resilient economy. Policy makers not only from the countries under study but also from other developing countries may utilize the findings of the study to evaluate their economic governance practices and be able therefore to make necessary adjustments and required changes with the objectives of registering better growth and strengthening the economy against any possibility of future crisis. The researchers from world organizations and academic community may also be interested with the findings since the study attempts to develop a new feasible dynamic estimation model to analyze the relationship between the components of economic governance and growth, of which they could use as a basis for their future research undertaking in the similar field. In addition, the findings could also stimulate and facilitate them to search for additional approaches to counter or justify the results of this study. 7.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Good governance has become a topic widely debated by academicians and economic communities especially in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1997. The discussions in this context center on two main perspectives; first, the absence of good governance has been perceived as a major cause of the crisis, and the second prognosis is drawn by inference, namely, that good governance is imperative for durable development (Lam, 2003). Therefore, to have a better understanding of the governance, this section discusses definitions and indicators of the governance, its relationship with the economic growth, how it links to the crisis and its roles in the recovery process, and finally how could these governance factors be used for crisis prevention. 7.1 Definitions and indicators of governance Definitions and indicators of governance can be found in numerous literatures. A top-down approach is best used to understand the concept of governance, where a general or broad definition of governance will be firstly explored before moving on to a more specific definition. The World Bank continuously updates key governance indicators in its regular publication of Governance Matters, a governance study encompassing many aspects like political, social, economic, legal and moral. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Funds (IMF) has been doing a great deal of works in an effort to promote governance in the financial sector management through Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs) which include regulatory, risk management and aid management. 7.1.1 Broad definition of governance From the viewpoint of United Nations Development Program (1997), the definition of governance is the exercise of economic, political administrative authority to manage a countrys affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligation and mediate their differences. Good governance is, among other things, participatory, transparent and accountable, effective and equitable, and it promotes the rule of law. It ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision-making over the allocation of development resources (Abdellatif, 2003). In its report, Governance and Sustainable Human Development in 1997, the UNDP acknowledges the following as core characteristics of good governance, i.e. participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity, effectiveness and efficiency, accountability, and strategic vision. A report by the World Bank (2006) entitled Governance Matters V covering 213 countries and territories since 1996 until 2005, presented the latest version of the worldwide governance indicators, namely voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption. Meanwhile, Inada (2003) discussed the governance in Indonesia where the word governance is translated as Tata Pemerintahan. It however has different meanings covering different agendas from political systems to corporate governance. They includes political democratization, reorganization of police and the military, curing the problems of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN), justice reform system, decentralization, financial management, corporate governance, and state-owned enterprise reforms. Shimomura (2003) in his case study of governance in Thailand adopted pluralist democracy, accountability, transparency, predictability, and openness in the manner of exercising power, rule of law, effective and efficient public sector management, prevention of corruption, and prevention of excessive military expenditures as the standard definition of good governance. 7.1.2 Governance from economic perspective According to Dixit (2006), economic governance consists of the processes that support economic activities and economic transactions by protecting property rights, enforcing contracts, and taking collective actions to provide appropriate physical and organizational infrastructure. These processes are carried out within institutions, formal and informal. He described that the field of economic governance studies and compares the performance of different institutions under different conditions, the evolution of these institutions, and the transitions from one set of institution to another. Meanwhile, Huther Shah (1998), Gonzalez Mendoza (2001) and Mahani (2003) defined governance as a multi-faceted concept, encompassing all aspects of the exercise of authority through both formal and informal institutions in the management of resources. In other words, governance is: An exercise of economic power in the management of resource endowment of a country done through mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups can articulate their interest, exercise legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. According to Mahani (2003), indicators of economic governance are: Macroeconomic management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" fiscal management, level of government debt, unemployment and inflation. Investment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" size and trend of foreign and domestic investments, capital flows and allocation of resources. Trade regime à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" trade orientation, export and import performance and balance of payment position. Financial sector management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the banking sector and capital market. Exchange rate regime. Private sector participation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" privatization and corporate governance. Social development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" income distribution and level of poverty. Lanyi Lee (1999) studied on various aspects of economic governance, that is, the way in which economic life is governed and regulated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" which does not mean solely governance by the government. They first discussed the political basis of economic governance which is in their view crucial for the way in which different aspects of economic governance operate. The other aspects include the governance of macroeconomic policy making, and the interrelated issues of financial and corporate governance. From political perspective, they argued that economic governance in a market economy consists partly of direct control or indirect influence exerted by the government and of governance exercised within markets themselves on the other part; but even self-governance by markets operates within the legal, judicial and regulatory framework that has been erected and is supported by the government. The optimum role of government in this context is market-augmenting government. Furthermore, they defined macroeconomic governance as the political and administrative processes by which macroeconomic policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. They argued that technically the same policies can be carried out with equal effectiveness by either an autocratic or a democratic government. An autocratic government, if supported by well-trained technocrats, is likely to come up with first-class macroeconomic governance. Nevertheless, there may be factors that over time lead to deterioration in the quality of these policies in an autocratic government, as well as problems in the ability of such governments to adjust policies in response to changes in economic circumstances. The working definition of governance used for financial and corporate governance depends on the key distinction between principals and agents. In this context, they defined governance as the legal and institutional arrangements governing the behavior of an economic entity, by which owners, creditors, markets and the government compel or induce agents to behave according to the interests of the principals, or those of the broader society. In this regard, two key elements of governance are discussed. First, there is the structure of incentives and rules facing agents with regard to such matters as granting and terminating lending, bankruptcy, the rights of boards of directors, compensation structure, and the termination of employment. Second, there is the structure of the information flow from agents to principals, that is, the rules and incentives affecting accountability, transparency and disclosure of information. In both cases, the government plays a key role in setting the rules by which private actors operate. Meanwhile, Das Quintyn (2002) in their study on the role of regulatory governance in crisis prevention and crisis management have identified four main components of the regulatory governance practices, namely independence, accountability, transparency and integrity. The study explored the quality of regulatory governance based on the financial system evaluations under the Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs). Introduced in May 1999, FSAPs is a joint effort by the IMF and World Bank aims to increase the effectiveness of efforts to promote the soundness of financial systems in member countries. Supported by experts from a range of national agencies and standard-setting bodies, works under the program seek to identify the strengths and vulnerabilities of a countrys financial system; to determine how key sources of risk are being managed; to ascertain the sectors developmental and technical assistance needs; and to help prioritize policy responses (IMF the World Bank, 2005). Regulatory governance applies to those institutions that possess legal powers to regulate, supervise and/or intervene in the financial sector, which include agencies like central bank, sectoral regulators and supervisors, deposit insurance agencies, and in systemic crisis situations, restructuring agencies and asset management companies. Regulatory agencies need a fair degree of independence from the political sphere and from the supervised entities to achieve good regulatory governance. Agency independence increases the possibility of making credible policy commitments and improves transparency and stability of the output. Independence goes hand in hand with accountability. Accountability is essential for the agency to justify its action against the background of the mandate given to it. Independent agents should be accountable not only to those who delegated the responsibility à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the government or legislature à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" but also to the public who fall under their functional realm. Transparency in monetary and financial policies refers to an environment in which objectives, frameworks, decisions, and their rationale, data and other information, as well as terms of accountability, are provided to the public in a comprehensive, accessible, and timely manner. Global integration of financial markets and products require greater degree of transparency in monetary and financial policies, and in regulatory regimes and processes, as a means of containing market uncertainty. Increased transparency supports accountability, protect the independence and eventually increase commitment to prudent behavior and risk control in the financial business. The final component of regulatory governance is integrity which reflects the mechanisms that ensure that staff of the agencies can pursue institutional goals of good regulatory governance without compromising them due to their own behavior, or self-interest. Independence, accountability, transparency and integrity interact and reinforce each other. Independence and accountability represent two sides of the same coin, while transparency is a vehicle for safeguarding independence and key instrument to make accountability work. Transparency also helps to establish and safeguard integrity. 7.2 Governance relationship with development and growth Economic governance is often studied through its role in the promotion of growth. This is done by setting policies, incentives and institutions that create an environment conducive to sustained stable growth through efficient management of a countrys resources. It means managing a countrys resources in a way that is accountable to, and representative of, the community; transparent, that is, open and predictable; and efficient and equitable in terms of the use, and distribution of, resources. Hence, good and effective governance requires government policies that encourage and efficiently manage investment and economic growth, support a fair and efficient public sector, strengthen the rule of law, protect human rights, and foster public participation and representation in decision making. Among the many studies that have examined the economic governance and growth nexus is such as that of Barro (1997). He studied the concept of growth based on the conditional convergence hypothesis which centers on the speed of economic growth in a country towards its steady-state level. He had empirically identified that more schooling, better health, lower fertility rate, less government consumption relative to GDP, greater adherence to uncorrupted rule of law, improvements in terms of trade changes, and lower inflation all go hand-in-hand with faster economic growth. Furthermore, he also explored on the interplay between economic and political development, and found that there is nonlinear relationship between democracy and growth. According to his findings, in countries with low levels of political freedom, a marginal increase in political freedom is associated with an acceleration in growth. However, at high levels of political freedom, a marginal increase in political freedom is associated with a slowing in growth. Huther Shah (1998) also studied the relationship between governance and growth and found that countries that practiced good governance have also enjoyed high growth. They developed a governance index featuring four sub-indices, i.e. citizen participation index (CP), government orientation index (GO), social development index (SD) and economic management index (EM) and each of the sub-indices has several components. For the Economic Management index, its components are outward orientation, central bank interdependence, and debt-to-GDP ratio which were used to assess trade policy, monetary policy and fiscal policy respectively. Gonzalez Mendoza (2001) argued that Southeast Asia provides ample evidence that there is a remarkable connection between administrative guidance and economic upturn. They compared the average growth rate of national output during the last decade against the quality of country governance and found that the high-performing economies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Singapore and Malaysia à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" have the edge in public management. Those left behind, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, have poor management structures. A study by Inada (2003) on Indonesia governance showed the importance of political stability and effective economic management as key elements for sustainable economic development among many governance factors. Bordo (2007) provides a good qualitative analysis on the possible determinant of emerging market crises from the perspective of balance sheet approach, which then put at center stage the importance of financial development. Though he never mention the word governance itself, he outlines the deep institutional determinants of financial development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" including the governance parameters such as the rule of law, protection of property rights, political stability, and representative democracy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" towards achieving financial stability. He further conjectures about the ways countries learn from their financial crises to improve their institutions and grow up to financial stability. 7.3 Governance link to crisis and roles in recovery process Lanyi Lee (1999) presented a strong case that governance issues were important in the East Asian crisis. They hypothesized that transparency and accountability in macroeconomic policymaking, in the operation of the financial system, and in corporate governance do serve to lessen a countrys vulnerability to financial crises and to strengthen the ability to deal with crises when they occur. They also hypothesized that a democratic political system, in which leaders are held accountable to their electorate by both direct election of the executive and an elected legislature à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" as well as by an independent judiciary and a free press and civil society à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" is less likely to collapse in the face of economic and financial difficulties than is a country run by an autocratic government, which imposes severe restraints on the public expression of opinion and dissemination of information. On the political basis of economic governance, they have suggested a hypothesis regarding the kind of political regimes likely to produce an effective, growth-enhancing, market-augmenting government. It is the type of political regime that is especially effective in the early stages of economic development may be less suited to fostering the creation of a full-fledged, sophisticated market economy at a later stage. They argued that there certainly seems to be some indications of this in the Asian experience, where authoritarian regimes fostered rapid growth when these economies were at relatively low income levels, but seems to be evolving toward more democratic models to deal with demands for greater market autonomy. They however suggested that even if a case can be made for the desirability of democratization as a market economy becomes more sophisticated, the varied historical examples warrant the need to find out more about the conditions under which either an autocratic or a democratic government can be market-augmenting, or not. They further highlighted that it would be useful to find historical examples of, and develop plausible scenarios for, the transition from discretionary (an autocratic government) to arms-length (a democratic government) approaches to state economic governance, and to define the most effective ways in which the international community might assist with this transition. Furthermore, they believed that empirical work on macroeconomic governance would need to tap into the huge literature on macroeconomic policies and their effect, and link existing work with variables that reveal the quality of governance. Unfortunately, such variables are hard to quantify; but perhaps a classification of regimes together with a classification of the way macroeconomic policy is organized, could yield ways of exploring the relationships between the political and administrative variables, on the one hand, and the more familiar economic variables on the other. In other words, it would be interesting to look how the macroeconomic policies are formulated, implemented and evaluated through the governance perspective, to understand whether adherence to, or lack of, the governance practices could influence the outcome of the macroeconomic policies, as well as to determine conditions that would lead to good quality policies which would eventually identify the appropriate type of market-augmenting government as the market economy progresses. Besides, they also made preliminary attempts to trace the relationship between empirical indicators of financial and corporate governance with some governance variables that have been developed by others. They however suggested that one needs to look more carefully, perhaps through case studies, at the realities of financial and corporate governance in particular cases and the linkage between indicators of these types of financial and corporate governance with the more carefully articulated classification of political regimes. Specifically with regard to the adjustment of most severely affected countries to the Asian crisis, they suggested that it would be interesting to examine the reasons why recovery in Korea has been more rapid than in the Indonesia and Thailand. Similarly, it would also be interesting to investigate Malaysias speedy recovery from the crisis even though the country did not subscribe to the IMF recovery prescriptions. Mahani (2003) highlighted that after the rapid recovery of the Asian economies in 1999, discussion of the causes of the crisis has been centered on the quality of economic governance in these economies. The East Asian economies success was at one time a model to be emulated by other developing countries, but after the 1997 financial turbulence, doubts were raised about the quality of economic governance in these Asian countries. Questions were raised whether the governance in these economies contributed to the crisis when countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea experienced sharp economic contraction during the crisis. She further highlighted that questions on the quality of governance centered on the issue whether or not the same economic governance that produced high growth also weakens the economies and makes them vulnerable to external shocks, whether the economic governance fails to avoid market failures in pursuing its high growth strategy, whether the conditions for good governance always the same irrespective of the stage of economic development, and whether the crony capitalism a result of the governance failure since it was among the widely acknowledged factors contributing to the crisis. To know whether economic governance had made the economy vulnerable to a crisis, it is crucially important to examine the causes of the crisis and to link them with the economic weak points. Was the crisis due to the imprudent economic management or due to external factors? Although external factors have been recognized as the key cause for the crisis, domestic shortcomings were also responsible for deepening or aggravating the impact of the crisis. Furthermore, Malaysias own crisis remedies and the rejection of the IMFs standard crisis solutions open the debate on what is good economic governance. She argued that the 1997 Asian experience showed the economic governance framework by the IMF and the World Bank has some weaknesses, namely unfettered short term capital flows, lack of long-term and broader macroeconomic objectives when growth is driven by the private sector, and minimal attention given to socioeconomic issues such as income distribution. The rapid recovery by Malaysia and Korea, which adopted different strategies shows that there are alternative ways to respond to a crisis, implying that there is also no single definition of economic governance. Policy flexibility arising from good economic governance before the crisis made it possible to Malaysia to take response measures specially tailored to its need and situation, and rejecting one-size-fits-all prescriptions by the IMF. 7.4 Governance roles in crisis prevention The rapid pace and spread of globalization pose stiff challenges to economic governance as new criteria and developments may impose a heavier governance burden on the government and economy. One of the biggest challenges is the increasingly volatile international flow of capital that makes economic governance much more difficult as economic fundamentals are not the only factors that determine performance. Global integration also limits the choice of measures that are available to a country in making its response. Yet good governance is essential for sustained economic growth. The challenge is to determine what good governance consists of under these changing conditions. Ever better economic management is called for, to preserve economic resilience and prevent external shocks from turning into crises. Thus, a close and critical evaluation of the new economic governance parameters and institutions is essential. 8.0 OVERVIEW ON THE STUDY OF GOVERNANCE 8.1 Development of the study of governance Inada (2003) outlined the development in the study of governance over the last 10 years which can be categorized into several types: Identifying factors of governance: what factors are the governance factors that affect the performance of the economies of developing countries? Example à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" World Bank (1992) documented such factors as accountability, transparency, predictable legal framework, efficiency of the public sector, etc. Categori

The Yellow Wallpaper Feminist Analysis

The Yellow Wallpaper Feminist Analysis One of the major goals of feminist literature is to determine what kind of voice women have or do not have in a world, dominated by men. Women are seen as not as important as men in humanity, and language is one of the tools used to emphasize mens power over women. Often the world in literature is represented from a male point of view, yet female writers have continued to write. In Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper the author uses slight symbolism to tell the reader how the main character is really feeling while the literal text goes  either talk like men or not talk at all. Even with these expectations, men have different experiences than women and women needed to find a way to express them, by finding their own style that includes specific themes, like mental illness, and women work on self expression. Mental illness and disease are common themes in North American feminist writing (Feminist Criticism, 173). This piece was written during what Showalter refers to as th e Feminist phase, which was between 1880-1920 when omen protested against societys standards and values. (Feminist Criticism and Jane Eyre, 462) Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of many women who used mental illness as a theme in her writing, as well as suffering from it in real life. As the story unfolds, the characters oppression from men and resulting mental illness takes shape. At the beginning, the author quickly makes it obvious who is dominant in her marriage, saying John and myself while writing in her personal diary. Even in her private thoughts she feels respectful to the men in her life. As quickly as she lets the reader know the way her relationship is set up, it becomes obvious that she has a very active imagination. She describes the house as a haunted house, which also is a foreshadowing to the conclusion of the story. Her resentment towards John is shown in small ways and is hard to detect, John laughs at me, of course. She is used to John thinking her ideas are a joke. Throughout the beginning of the story we learn all about Johns personality traits, a practical forceful physician. In describing John and emph asizing how different the two are, she implies that she is the opposite of his traits. Where he is practical, she is a dreamer. The juxtaposition of John and the narrator reflects the universal juxtaposition of men and women. The dominance of men is undeniable, He does not believe Im sick. The narrator has lost control to decide if shes sick or not, one of the most basic things a person can determine. Her brother is another male figure who makes decisions for her. Although she disagrees, it is not something that she is vocal about. While describing herself, John and her brother the narrator does not use a lot of symbolism. However with the sentence So I will let it alone and talk about  the house, the symbolism begins. Because she cannot argue in the realm of men, she chooses a different outlet for her feelings in issues surrounding the house. She describes the house and its surroundings as beautiful, she then says There were greenhouses too, but they are all broken now. It is common knowledge that greenhouses are areas of new life and growth, the fact that they are broken symbolizing the end of growing new life. The narrator was pregnant, and the  idea of a broken greenhouse could symbolize depressio n relating to the pregnancy and not having the baby growing inside her anymore. The narrators imagination is something that John expects her to control and change, his constant disapproval of her true personality is unavoidable. She does not disagree with John  actively or in an upfront manner, even within the text. The houses features, especially the wallpaper, can be seen as a symbol for the narrators marriage and general feelings. John chooses for the two of them to live in the upstairs nursery, while the narrator preferred the prettier downstairs. I dont like our room one bit. The narrators distaste for the nursery could also symbolize the fact that she did not want to have a child in the first place, which is also evident in the fact that she does not refer to the baby by name or show any desire to interact with it. Their room and shared space could be interpreted to mean their marriage, where it seems that she spends a lot of time alone. Even when attempting to describe John in a positive loving way such as, He is so careful and loving, and hardly lets m e stir without special direction the narrator manages to imply that this is irritating and stifling. This isnt genuine pleasure in this attention. She is not openly rebellious, yet her feelings of unhappiness towards male dominance cause her to feel ungrateful because she is aware of the role women are supposed to happily play. She feels trapped, her unwanted nursery room is ugly and the windows are barred. This was once a precaution for children inhabiting the nursery, but now makes a cage like environment for the narrator and serves as a constant reminder of children. It also is a blatant symbol of the fact that the narrator is caged within a life she has no control over. Her hatred of tire room is intensified by her disgust with the wallpaper. She describes it as committing every aesthetic sin. At first glance, the wallpaper may be seen as insignificant. But upon closer inspection it can be obviously interpreted as a symbol for her marriage. She calls the wall paper dull but irritating, John is either leaving her which is boring or trying to control her life which is annoying. The narrator spends a countless amount of time studying the wall paper, I start, well say at the bottom, down in the corner over there where it has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that p ointless pattern to some sort of conclusion. This passage despite how frustrated she is, she continually complains of feeling a lack of strength. She is unable to truly change her situation and feels defeated by this. John makes assumptions and assertions such as You know the place is doing you good,  while the narrator is slowly slipping into madness. It shows his ignorance towards his wifes situation, and mens general ignorance of the well being of women. Also it makes it obvious that one person shouldnt be making decisions for someone else, which was a major cause of unhappiness for women when men were accepted by society as the dominant gender. The narrator feels separated from her husband, there is a disconnected displayed by their inability to communicate, his lack of awareness of their needs and their marriage as a whole. The fact that the narrator has been put in this room, symbolically her marriage, angers her and she makes this known I would not be as silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim. He makes her stay upstairs just because that is his preference, when he is often away. The narrator describes the wallpaper and her feelings towards it by saying, I get positively  angry with the impertinence of it and everlastingness. Her marriage is something she cannot escape from, and she has no choice in the matter. The word choices made in this part of the story intensify the feeling of unhappiness, words such as inharmonious and sentences like ravages  the children have made here they must have had perseverance as well as hatred convey a negative image. Yet as much as there is the narrator fights against the oppression of men there are moments within the text where she doesnt do a very good job of making her case. And dear John gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head At times like this she enforces the idea that she is a child and needs to be babied. If this is the way she behaves than it is no wonder that he treats her the way he does. As much as the oppression is created by men it is accepted and at times encouraged by women. Her tears and weakness are leading towards a mental breakdown. She begins to see a woman in the pattern, stooping down and creeping about. If her marriage is the wallpaper, than the woman behind it can be seen as the narrators subconscious. Her growing unhappiness makes the woman more and more noticeable. She lacks purpose, as she is not allowed to write, and this causes her over active imagination to engage. Her woman behind the pattern feels as she does, the faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out. The narrator desires to shake off her marriage as the woman tries to shake the pattern. The use of the word pattern is no accident either, as these types of relationships are the typical pattern followed by society at his time. As time progresses the narrator sinks deeper into her obsession with the woman in the wallpaper, perhaps her only means of escape from a situation she cannot change. Finally the narrator gives way to madness, ripping at the wallpaper and creeping around the room causing her husband to faint. She hasnt managed to escape the confines of her relationship, yet she is attempting to free the woman from behind the pattern of the wallpaper. Her obsession with the wall paper is directly correlated to her desire for control within her life  and relationships, she can assert her dominance over the wall paper yet she is incapable of changing her relationship.